Homeschool Funding in Canada: What Parents Need to Know
We are often asked what we think of the idea of government funding for home education. Should homeschool families be advocating for a fair share of the tax dollars that are being spent on education? What about equal treatment for all?
Indeed, with so many new-to-homeschooling families starting out in the last few years, this question is being asked far more often than it used to be.
Children in the public system are subsidized by provincial governments anywhere from $12,000 to $20,000 each, annually. That’s an awful lot of money for kids in public school, and yet home educated families get little or nothing. So, some say basic fairness dictates that home educating families, who undeniably bear significant costs to educate their children, should be entitled to some sort of subsidy, as well.
However, government funding always creates challenges for families.
The Cost of an Education
First, imagine just for a moment governments giving the same massive subsidy to homeschool parents that they give to public schools – say $15,000 per child, annually. Many existing homeschool families would say ‘wonderful’ and they would continue on providing a great education for their children, at least initially.
But, it is not hard to imagine what would happen next.
There would be a flood of new homeschooling families, some genuine, but many others who like the idea of a fat cheque simply to stay at home with their children. And, because of this flood of new homeschoolers, governments would feel compelled to engage in much, much more oversight and ultimately regulation to ensure the children are receiving appropriate education. And, for legitimate homeschooling parents, increased oversight and regulation means more time spent on paperwork, reporting, and compliance, and much less time actually providing education.
Realistically, equal subsidies will never happen anyway as there are just too many homeschoolers to fund. It would cost governments billions to do it, and those are billions they simply don’t have.
Supporters of funding also point out that two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as the three sparsely populated Territories, already provide modest annual payments to families ranging from a few hundred to several hundred dollars per child to support the purchase of books and supplies. Yet, challenges arise even when the subsidy to parents is modest because any responsible government tracks how those payments are being spent in the interest of transparency and accountability.
The bottom line is there are always strings attached to any payment from government programs.
The Strings Attached to Government Funding
Those receiving modest payments are often required to provide receipts to demonstrate the money they received was actually spent on curriculum and supplies. And, while such reporting is certainly reasonable, it is also where the real problems start. This allows governments to begin to examine exactly what books and supplies are being purchased, if they so choose. Then, upon reviewing the curriculum purchased, governments could eventually begin restricting which curriculum is ‘acceptable’ and which isn’t.
For example, in Newfoundland, despite the fact that there are no subsidies at all presently, the list of ‘acceptable’ curriculum is very short. The only curricula currently approved are: the provincial curriculum, Abeka, ACE, Calvert School, Home Study International, and Sonlight. (See the NL Home Schooling Policy Appendix A and Appendix B.) These are not bad choices but are extremely limited and getting approval for another curriculum is proving to be a slow and inefficient process. So much for Saxon Math, Gather Round, Apologia Science, and the hundreds of other excellent textbooks you might want to use in your homeschool!
In an even more extreme example of control, the Ministry of Education in Quebec requires homeschoolers to write public school exams. So, home educated students there have no choice but to use the provincial curriculum in subjects such as social studies if they are to pass their exams. The freedom of parents to direct the education of their children is significantly diminished along with the quality of education they are able to provide.
At the end of the day, government funding for your homeschool always means government involvement in your homeschool.
It cannot be any other way. And, even if you happen to have confidence and trust in your current government, just remember a single election can change all that in a flash.
