When there’s news every day of yet another school district budget shortfall and yet another school being closed, it’s difficult to see what’s really been happening to public education in British Columbia for almost two decades now. But within the seeming chaos there is a clear pattern that emerges. It’s a pattern that can be clearly seen in many countries around the world as corporations turn their profit-hungry eyes toward the $5.5 trillion that is being spent on education worldwide.
Over a century ago public education was a radical idea in Britain. It was considered an utter waste of taxpayer’s money and was strongly resisted by many politicians. Nevertheless, arguments about public education being a public good won the day.
The big idea was that public education would provide an equal playing field for all society’s children. Children from poor homes could work their way up the social ladder through a free education and this in turn would ensure that the state would benefit from having a well-educated workforce and citizenry. Sounds all very democratic, doesn’t it?
Fast forward to the 1970s and a new idea began to spread from a group of economists at the Chicago School of Economics. One of them, Milton Friedman, wrote a seminal paper suggesting that public education be privatized. For most people in North America this was an outrageous idea akin to suggesting that we should sell motherhood. Because of the strong resistance to privatization of public education, it has to be sold to the public in a way that is subtle, is soft, is slick.
HOW TO PRIVATIZE A PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM
You will need the help of politicians. This is easy to obtain since they are always looking for donations for their election campaigns. Spending a few million will reap rewards ten times over. Once you have politicians on board, direct them thus:
Competition
Erode the collaborative and co-operative foundations of public education by introducing competition between schools. As an example, in B.C. the Fraser Institute began to rank schools in 1998 in a way that completely ignored multiple variables that made each school unique but that made sense to a public used to hockey team rankings.
Choice
Create a two-tier education system, one public and one private, both supported by public funds. Keep increasing the amount of public funds that go to private schools while decreasing the funds that go to public schools. Watch while private schools advertise everything that public schools are accused of not having: small class sizes, new technology, support for students with learning disabilities.
Costs
Promote the idea that funding public education is too expensive and outside of the “affordability zone” for taxpayers. Keep changing the formula used to fund schools while you repeatedly tell the public that you’re increasing funding. They won’t realize that you’re spending less and less each year as you no longer fund things you used to fund in the past.
Count
Insist that public schools be accountable. Insist that students be subjected to standardized tests like the FSA so that taxpayers can see whether they’re getting what they pay for. Ignore all the protests about standardized tests being invalid and that they don’t reveal anything of value regarding a student’s learning experiences.
Create Divisions
Implementing these steps needs to happen over a long period so that the pattern is not too obvious. While you are waiting for the public to accept that privatization is good and is inevitable, it is also important to ensure that groups that may be natural allies, do not unite. It is therefore necessary to divide parents from teachers. Use every opportunity to increase any dissension that may arise.
For example, when Parent Teacher Associations in BC were replaced by Parent Advisory Councils, teachers and parents moved to separate camps, so to speak, and this was good for the privatization agenda. When the provincial body of PACs, the BCCPAC, was led by those in support of accountability, this was also good for the privatization agenda since the perception was that the parents of 500 000 students were in support of the BC Liberal government’s education policies.
Speaking of perceptions, another important project is to change public perception of teachers. There should be no limit on the budget spent on public relations in this regard. Painting teachers as greedy and lazy will turn public sentiment against them.
Also, support and encourage attacks on the teachers’ union. In BC, the attacks on the British Columbia Teachers Federation took the form of newspaper articles and editorials and also social media comments made by digital influencers.
You should also try to weaken teacher unions by other means. For example, court cases that take over a decade to resolve.
Be Patient
Finally, patience is required for the privatization project since most people in society value public education and strongly believe that it’s a public good.
It’s the soft sell that will win them over.
Remember there is a big reward: a piece of that $5.5 Trillion pie.
Moving Paradigms 
A great synopsis!
“They won’t realize that you’re spending less and less each year as you no longer fund things you used to fund in the past.” I love that sentence.
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Thank you. It’s the fourth version of that sentence so I’m relieved it worked!
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Hello Lizanne. This is EXACTLY what has been happening in Australia. We have a federal election in July. Our Conservative Prime Minister has flagged handing over public school funding to the States(Provinces) while the federal govt continues to fund private schools, citing the very arguments you have so eloquently explained. The outcry has him ducking for cover (for now). If elected, the Conservatives will definitely move some way to this end.
Our Labor opposition when in Govt
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Yes, they use the same playbook the world over. The same tactics. They’re successful and that’s why they use them. Parents are too busy and stressed to take time to see the pattern but it’s really important that they do. Perhaps share this post with some parents there? And! So good to know you’re reading my blog. Thank you!!
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Reblogged this on Supporting Teachers of Additional Language Learners and commented:
As we wring our hands, fume and endure yet another budget cutting marathon, this succinct review of why public education is in danger, is very timely.
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Thank you.
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Great post! The sad thing is that in this ‘growth at all costs’ world we live in, profits alone aren’t good enough. The investment machine simply requires continuous expansion and schools will be swallowed up in this until the panama-papers/occupy Wall Street style revolution happens. 🙂
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Thanks Richard. I’m afraid you’re right. Our only hope lies in parents who realize what is being done and who then organize resistance to the privatization agenda.
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It makes me sad when I read posts like this one. “Private” or independent schools exist for many different reasons. Rather than attacking schools that fulfill the needs of the diverse families in this province, wouldn’t it be better to work together to find ways to strengthen both systems? It doesn’t have to be the big, bad private school against the poor, little independent school. Posts such as this one create more competition and division in areas where it really is not necessary. I recognize that there are independent schools with massive budgets collecting government funding on top of huge tuition payments. Please also recognize that there are independent schools barely getting by with minimal tuition costs providing a choice for families who are looking for a faith-based school.
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The target of my censure is government policy and corporate greed, not faith-based private schools. I hope you can see that.
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Schools are not there to teach religious beliefs. These should be taught in homes and churches. Leave schooling to do what it’s meant to do, prepare our children to be Canadian citizens.
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I have worked as a School Tech with the Victoria School District since 1999. At present, I look after technology at Victoria High and Esquimalt High Schools. I spend time in computer labs and classrooms every day of the week. I would say I have a firsthand view of what has happened to public education since the Liberals have come to power. Over the course of the last 16 years, I have seen class sizes increase, especially regarding special needs students, without sufficient corresponding EA support. I have watched students fall through the cracks because of insufficient classroom support. Since the “all inclusive” philosophy has been adopted in SD61, I have seen teachers stretched to the limit trying to meet the needs of each student. Don’t get me wrong, I think the “all inclusive” idea has its merits. I’ve seen students helping other students with learning difficulties, I’ve witnessed students developing empathy for each other. But generally, teachers are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of students that need help. Whenever I hear people talking about teachers as glorified babysitters or how easy teachers have it in the classroom, I stop whatever I’m doing and I take that person to task. I honestly cannot understand where the idea of teaching being an easy job comes into the picture. I would have to guess most people who talk that way have not spent any amount of time sitting in classrooms. I have tremendous respect for the vast majority of teachers with whom I have worked. The positive input they deliver to students, our society, our culture, is truly one of the main building blocks that keeps our province/country strong. To underfund such an important part (education) of what makes us strong as a country, with equal opportunity for all, can only be considered cultural suicide.
Sincerely
Rembrandt Garland
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Thank you so very much for this Rembrandt. I wish there were many more who shared your views of the hard work that teachers do daily.
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Summed up very well Lizanne. Keep writing!
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