Calgary charter school operators happy with provincial investment, while some are concerned public education suffers - CTV News Calgary | Canada News Media
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Calgary charter school operators happy with provincial investment, while some are concerned public education suffers – CTV News Calgary

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As part of Alberta’s 2022 budget, the province is spending nearly $75 million to build on Alberta public charter and collegiate schools over the next three years. While this is welcome news for some Calgary parents and charter school operators, there’s concern that public education is being overlooked.

Education Minister Adriana Lagrange said the $47 million in capital spending and $25 million will be used to support leases and facility improvements “so existing public charter schools can grow and new public charter schools have the spaces they need to deliver the educational services to the students that want them,” she said from Edmonton Tuesday.

A majority of Calgary charter schools operate out of former public school buildings.

Some Calgary parents welcomed  the investment.

“There’s no tuition, they accept pretty much anybody as long as the funding’s there for them. And it is great, great quality,” said Stephen Miles, whose daughter attends Foundations for the Future Charter Academy.

The province says public charter schools give parents more choice and when asked if Alberta parents were choosing alternative or at-home education because they are saying no to the “wokeness” of public education, Premier Jason Kenney said there’s “probably some of that.”

He later added “let me be clear, I think we have a great education system right across the board. We have so many dedicated teachers. All together this is one of the reasons that pluralism in education makes sense.

Premier Kenney left open the possibility Tuesday that the province might consider easing restrictions on indoor social gatherings for the holidays

“Some parents may not like things that are going on at their local public school,” Kenney added, “and they have options if that’s the case.”

LONG HISTORY OF CHOICE IN EDUCATION

Advocates for the charter school system say that the element of choice in education has a long history.

“The very first (Alberta) schools were Catholic schools, we added francophone schools after public schools then 27 years ago we added charter schools. It’s just one more excellent choice,” said Lynn Paradis, president of the Association of Alberta Public Charter Schools.

Leaders from Support Our Students, an education advocacy group, say that funding and support should go to the public education system.

“Alberta is the only province in Canada with charter schools but it is an American import system,” said Medeana Moussa, executive director of Support our Students.

“This is the privatization of public education in real time. Charter schools are a pathway to privatization. It is money going to a few at the expense of the many,” she added.

Public Interest Alberta agrees, saying in a statement: “The public education system in Alberta is world-class, but it’s suffered for years under the UCP government. Rather than invest into the system to match inflation and student population growth and reinvest to rectify the damage done by previous budget cuts, they have continued this failed experiment in privatization by stealth,” said executive director Bradley Lafortune.

He later added “all advocates of public education must reject the term ‘school choice’ and recognize it for what it really is: a market agenda that further entrenches two-tiered, Americanized education for Alberta’s students.”

Paradis refuted this saying “we are absolutely very different from U.S. charter schools and that myth we’d really like to bust.”

NEED SUPPORT

An education expert from the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary said Alberta’s charter schools are in need of support.

“There’s some funding (needs that are) necessary (and) that has not gone in. If you visit the charter system, you’ll understand they have been the ‘poor boy’ of schooling in Alberta. So (the additional funding announcement) policy evens the playing field,” said associate professor Eugene Kowch.

“It really is about community involvement, community governance and informed choice as an alternative to push forward innovation and these charter systems have to report to the minister using good research once a year, (while) the public school does not.”

One parent who is also the board chair at Foundations for the Future Charter Academy said the funding will help admit students with special needs who were otherwise sent to the public school system.

“We are now finally in a position after over a decade of having out students be recognized they require the same support as students in every other public system,” said Jeff Wilson.

The Alberta Teachers Association released a statement calling the government investment into charter schools “inequitable” and “unjustified.”

In a majority of cases, charter school teachers are not part of the teachers’ union and are not subject to their collective bargaining nor pay union dues.

Kowch says the funding represents 1.2 per cent of Alberta’s education budget and 1.5 per cent of Alberta students. An estimated 10,000 attend charter or collegiate schools.

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Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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