• Home
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Travel
  • Events
  • Classifieds
  • More
    • Editor’s Note
    • Book Reviews
    • Education
    • Health & Home
    • History
    • Art & Music
    • Point of View
    • Rubrique Francaise
    • Science
    • Technology
    • The Bridge
    • Videos

Advertisement

The Reality of Education Spending in Canada

on September 17th, 2015 by The Afro News 0 comments

Advertisement
wisely wellness chocolate

The belief that the challenges facing public schools arise from a lack of resources is not supported by the evidence

As parents settle back into school year routines, it’s inevitable that questions regarding education spending and the performance of our schools will return to the forefront. This is particularly true in provinces like Ontario and Alberta that are struggling with precarious public finances.

And despite claims to the contrary, spending on public school education in Canada has not been cut and has in fact increased markedly over the last decade even though student enrolment has declined. The problems observed in our public schools simply cannot be explained by a lack of resources.

Consider that the provinces in total spent $60.7 billion on education in public schools in 2012-13, the most recent year of available comprehensive data. This is $19.1 billion more than was spent 10 years earlier – an increase of 45.9 per cent. When examined individually, every single province increased education spending over the last 10 years without exception.

This substantial increase occurred despite a 4.9 per cent decline in student enrolment in public schools over that same period. The increase in education spending in public schools is actually 53.4 per cent after accounting for the decline in student enrolment. In other words, more money was spent on fewer students.

As is the norm in service-oriented sectors of our economy, the bulk of spending in education is on compensation. Almost three-quarters (73.5 per cent) of all education spending in public schools is consumed by compensation, which includes salaries, benefits and pensions. Indeed, 72.2 per cent of the entire $19.1 billion increase in education spending was allocated to increased compensation costs for both teaching and non-teaching staff in public schools.

Of note is the larger and larger share of compensation costs consumed by pensions. Most Canadians are generally aware of the premium pensions enjoyed by government-sector employees compared to those in the private sector. Teachers and non-teaching staff in public schools are no different in terms of enjoying a generous pension. Pension costs increased by 89 per cent, rising from $2.1 billion to $4.0 billion in annual spending between 2003-04 and 2012-13. Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta experienced particularly pronounced increases in pension costs – increases above 100 per cent over the decade in all three provinces. Greater diligence in managing these costs through reform will be needed sooner rather than later as pension costs continue to crowd-out other education spending.

Spending on renovations and the building of new facilities is another area of increasing costs, which is surprising given the decline in student enrolment. Specifically, spending on new schools and renovations of existing facilities doubled from $2.4 billion annually in 2003-04 to $4.8 billion in 2012-13. This marked increased occurred at the same time that student enrolment in public schools declined by almost 5 per cent.

This is not to say that there are not problems in our public schools. The notion, however, that the challenges facing public schools arise from a lack of resources is not supported by this evidence of increased education spending.

By Deani Neven Van Pelt and Jason Clemens

Deani Neven Van Pelt is the director of the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education and Jason Clemens is Executive VP of the Fraser Institute.

www.troymedia.com

Sun Media Market out

Filed under: Education Tagged With: Education Spending in Canada, public schools, Teachers

Related Posts

  • Parents a Key Factor in Student Academic Performance  
  • 300,000 Reasons Why Ranking B.C. Schools is a Valuable Activity
  • Clearing The Misconceptions About Independent Schools
  • White House Mentee Heads to Morehouse College
  • Home-Schooling on the Rise in Canada

Next post: Fifteen Diverse and Impressive African Related Films at VIFF

Previous post: Worker Choice Laws Make Union Leaders More Accountable to Their Members

Stay Informed
Sign Up To Get Your Weekly Roundup of the News
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing!Be sure to look for your confirmation email and confirm your subscription.

Advertisement

Advertisements

> Navigate Our Site

  • Book Reviews
  • Business
  • Editor’s Note
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Events
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Health & Home
  • History
  • Art & Music
  • Point of View
  • Rubrique Francaise
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • The Bridge
  • Travel
  • Videos

> Extra Resources

  • Advertising
  • Post a Classified Ad
  • TAN History
  • Letter to the Editor
  • SAGE Foundation
  • TAN Facebook
  • TAN Twitter
  • La Palabre Podcast
  • Writers Login
Back To Top

Copyright © ’2025’ The Afro News, a PGH company
All Rights Reserved