FPinfomart.ca

School daze; Provinces are gearing up to spend
more on education when they should be spending less--and
better.
Canadian Business
Mon 28 Feb 2005

Page: 023
Section: Opinion
Page Name:
Byline: Jack Mintz

Column: On Policy
Source:
Series:

As the provinces gear up to introduce their budgets,
you can bet your last tax dollar that many finance ministers will justify
ramped-up spending in education as an investment in the future. A good
education system is vital, of course, but in fact provincial governments now
have an opportunity to slow down growth in education spending without
compromising quality. The reason: Canada's low fertility rate.

Thanks to demographic changes, governments face increasing pressure to
spend money on health care, pensions, long-term care facilities and other
support for the elderly. To keep taxes from exploding in the future, we will
need to keep the lid on fiscal spending on programs that governments can save
money on. Education is especially important in this regard, since our low
fertility rate is leading to declining school enrolment. Canada's elementary
and secondary student population fell by 1.6% from 1996-97 to 2004-05, but the
decline has been quite sharp in some provinces: 25.7% in Newfoundland, 11.4%
in Nova Scotia and 3.8% in Quebec.

An even sharper decline in elementary and secondary school enrolments is on
the horizon. In a paper published by the C.
D. Howe Institute, Yvan
Guillemette projects school populations will
decline in the next eight years by more than 8%. In all provinces, student
enrolment will decline--the smallest decrease in Alberta (3.4%) and the
largest in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland (more than 20%).

Those declining enrolments mean that provinces could maintain
inflation-adjusted per-student spending while allowing total spending to grow
at about half the rate of growth in the economy. That, however, is not the way
provinces like to do things--provincial spending has been rising rapidly since
1996-97. Guillemette shows that per student spending (in 2004 dollars) has
risen from $7,221 in 1996-97 to $8,165 per student in 2004-05--an increase of
13.1% for Canada as a whole. Spending has surged in Prince Edward Island from
$5,608 per student in 1996-97 to $8,212 by 2004-05. By contrast, Ontario's per
student spending on an inflation-adjusted basis has virtually been flat.

If student enrolments are declining, why do governments feel they must ramp
up total spending on education? One reason is that governments are reluctant
to close neighbourhood schools as families with children move away. Without
school closures, governments face rising per-student costs. Further, education
often gets snarled in union talks. Seeing a more expansive budget, teachers
would be quick to press for salary increases. This would not be so bad if
teachers were rewarded for good performance. But salary negotiations result in
pay raises according to seniority and degree qualifications, and have little
to do with merit. Striking teachers, as Ontario now faces, will not be pushing
for greater accountability and performance-pay packages.

The most obvious reason for rapid per-student spending growth is that
governments mistakenly believe that more per-student spending on education
will improve results. Yet, Guillemette argues, more spending does not
translate into better school performance. The province that has shown the most
improvement in math, science and literacy scores has been Ontario, even though
spending has risen less quickly there than in all other provinces. Prince
Edward Island, despite dramatic increases in spending, has seen small
improvement in test scores.

Money given to schools is an input, not a guarantee of a good outcome.
Alberta has had one of the most successful education systems in the world (as
shown by OECD test scores) because it encouraged school choice and
school-based budgeting, which allows principals more flexibility in running
their schools. The success of such reforms does not imply that more money
needs to be thrown at education, as opposed to a better allocation of
resources to encourage stronger school performance.

So the next time you hear a provincial finance minister proudly state that
investments in education are to rise rapidly, send a letter to tell him that
he would be better off looking for real educational reforms that keep the lid
on per-student spending.

Edition: Final
Story Type:
Note:
Length:
653 words