The Public Funding of Private Schools in Ontario: The Setting, Some Arguments, and Some Matters of Belief

Abstract

Private schools in Ontario receive no direct public subsidy, but there are several arguments that they should. The commissioner who examined these arguments and their consequences suggested that the financial cost of funding private schools should not decide policy (Ontario could afford the extra cost) but rather social justice reasons, especially the parents' right to decide on the kind of education. Arguments for special groups should be balanced against social cohesion. The constitutional argument might imply that discrimination exists unless private schools are partly funded. The commissioner concluded that at least minimum standards should be maintained for all private schools, and suggested how society and parents could be sure of this.