EDMONTON — Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has spoken out against a proposal put forth by Calgary teacher Alicia Taylor to halt government funding for private schools.
The Minister warned that such a move would severely impact the province’s already stressed public education system, forcing the sudden transfer of tens of thousands of students into public schools. Currently, five percent of the K-12 education budget, totaling $461 million, is allocated to private schools.
Taylor is working to collect 177,000 signatures within 120 days to force a referendum on discontinuing this funding. Taylor argues that redirecting the money currently designated for private schools to the public system would help alleviate existing issues.
However, the Independent School Association countered this, stating that cutting the funding would result in an additional cost of at least $5,000 per student for public schools receiving the transferred students.
Minister Nicolaides confirmed that the government would respect the final decision made by Albertans should the proposal proceed to a referendum.
