Leadership Comparison
| Differences | Public Neighborhood School | Public Charter School |
|---|---|---|
| School Board Trustees – elected every 4 years | ||
| Society Board Directors – elected every year | ||
| Principal reports to Superintendent | ||
| Principal reports to Board | ||
| Superintendent reports to Trustees and Minister of Education | ||
| Charter administered by Minister of Education | ||
| Teachers must join the BC Teachers Federation | ||
| Teachers can join the organization of their choice | ||
Education Comparison
| Similarities and Differences | Public Neighborhood School | Public Charter School |
|---|---|---|
| Certified Teachers | ||
| No Tuition | ||
| Provincial Curriculum | ||
| Accept all children space permitting | ||
| No religious affiliation | ||
| More Convenient | ||
| More Innovative | ||
| Lots of focus on activism development | ||
| Lots of focus on character building | ||
Please give me a brief overview of what this solution and its related petition means.
A charter school can fill the gap between home schooling and the neighborhood public school. It’s a parent who makes home schooling happen and a group of parents could start up a charter school.
Any publicity surrounding the petition will hopefully highlight the possibility of adding charter schools to BC’s school system.
Is there a difference between public charter schools and private schools?
The draft bill in the petition is to add charter schools to the School Act, to take its place alongside francophone schools and homeschooling. The Independent School Act is for private schools. Charter schools get 100% of the per student grant, can’t have a religious affiliation and must accept all children who register as long as space permits. These are the three main differences with private schools which get 30% or 50% of the per student grant, can have a religious affiliation and can restrict enrolment to a limited degree.
Is there a difference between public charter schools and public neighborhood schools?
A charter school gives another choice to parents. It also gives a choice for educators in where they practice their profession. A charter school can have an educational philosophy that is shared by all of its teachers and that is not watered down by vacancies being filled through the bumping rights that are imposed on public schools by their Board’s collective agreements. The common educational philosophy makes for a working environment that is very attractive to some teachers.
A charter school must teach the provincial curriculum as part of its charter. The Minister of Education decides what is in the curriculum. The professional educator decides how to teach it. This distinction gives some comfort to parents concerned about gender fluidity concepts being introduced too early or too broadly. For example, an overly zealous teacher who upsets the girls and boys in his or her class about the biological reality of their gender could be fired immediately by the charter school principal, backed up its board of directors.
What is a charter school?
The Association of Alberta Public Charter Schools has an answer.
Thirteen public charter schools in Alberta.
Names and purposes of each school can be seen on Wikipedia.