No plans to let parents shift tax dollars out of public schools, Higgs says
4 My Canada says families who pull their children out of public system should be able to move funding too
Premier Blaine Higgs says he has no plans to let New Brunswick parents divert their tax dollars away from the public school system if they opt for private schools or home schooling for their children.
That's a proposal from the group 4 My Canada, one of the organizations defending Higgs from criticism over his stance on Policy 713 and protections for LGBTQ students.
Besides supporting Higgs, the group says on its website that its other objective is "the common sense principle that a family's tax dollars should go to supporting their child's education directly."
"If a family decides that private schooling or home schooling is best for them, the tax dollars that would otherwise go to the public system should be given to them to support their educational choice."
Faytene Grasseschi, who helps run the Christian conservative organization, told CBC News last week that the high rate of departures from public schools justifies a look at some kind of policy allowing the shifting of funding.
Higgs said in May that New Brunswick has the "highest exodus" per capita in Canada of parents opting to pull their children out of the public school system, a comment he made while discussing the teaching of LGBTQ+ issues in the provincial curriculum.
"Our tax dollars are supposed to serve the citizens," Grasseschi told CBC News.
"If a system is beginning to fail, or if citizens are losing confidence in the system, then I think it's time for a conversation."
Grasseschi said the shifting of tax dollars could be in the form of a tax credit.
But in a statement Monday, Higgs rejected the idea.
"The increase in students choosing to leave the public school system and the rationale for doing so is concerning," he said.
"We need to understand why and to what extent this is occurring. This does not mean we are considering a different funding model at this time."
The province did not provide data showing New Brunswick has the highest rate of departures from the public system among Canadian provinces.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said the enrolment of school-age children in private schools has grown to 1,890 from 1,530 over the last two years.
But it also said the number of children being home schooled has gone down, from 2,633 to 1,636 during the same period.
That means the total number of school-age children learning outside the public system has actually decreased from 4,163 to 3,526.
School choice — and the shifting of funding away from the public system — has been a conservative rallying cry for decades.
Others support the concept, including Rebecca Halliday, who runs a private school in the Moncton area that offers a general education program but also serves students with learning difficulties.
She charges $10,000 per year at Riverbend Community School.
Halliday lobbied for years for a tuition transfer program that would allow parents to shift their tax dollars that normally go to public schools — about $8,000 per year, she estimates — to her school.
"My argument was always this is not new money," she said. "I'm not asking for new money. This is a reallocation of funds. It makes total sense."
But the province turned her down repeatedly to the point she gave up.
"It's basically been met with 'we just don't have that kind of money.' The money can't be taken out of the proverbial pot. 'We need that money in the proverbial pot.'"
Halliday said it would frustrate her if a tax credit system were created over religious or values concerns.
"Religion and education are supposed to be separate," she said.
But if "it opens the door to all students whose needs aren't being met, hurrah."
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