Mission

To advocate for an excellent, quality-oriented, and choice-driven education system which recognizes parental authority.

What we believe

Authority over the education of a child rightly belongs to the parents or legal guardians of that child. We affirm Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Parents may, and often do, delegate the delivery of education to government entities, but the nature and degree of that delegation is theirs to determine.

School choice gives opportunities to students who can, at the appropriate age and with the permission and support of their parents, make education decisions based on their planned career path, values and preferences.

Parents are drivers of quality in education. Because of the natural and permanent tie that parents have with their own children, parents have a greater interest in ensuring the quality of their children's education than anyone else, save the children themselves.

Choice itself is a driver of quality. People with choice will choose the options they perceive to be better, and the competition to be chosen drives improvement.

Good programming is available within traditional public schools in Alberta. Enhanced choice within the public system, and between the public system and other education systems, will improve quality across the landscape.

Most parents make choices about their children's education on serious thought and sound analysis of the options. In any event, parents are better positioned to understand their child's interest than politicians, bureaucrats or special interest groups.

The freedom of parents to direct the education of their children matters more than the level of government funding that follows the choice. At the same time, parents can reasonably expect that their tax dollars will be available to them when their children are in school, whatever educational choice they make. Funding ensures that socio-economic status is not a barrier to alternative programs, and allows those programs to support every student, including students with special needs.

Standardized testing is a tool for parents to get information about their children's progress in public, Catholic and independent schools, and for schools and the department to improve. We support the existing exemption from mandatory standardized testing for home educators.

School boards should not remove or restrict educational choice. Where a board does not permit an alternative program, that program should have the option of affiliating with a board in another area or with a board without a defined geographic area.

Distance learning gives choice to families in remote areas that could not otherwise offer a range of options, and we welcome it.

Identical curricula need not be used by every student in Alberta. Alternative curricula such as the International Baccalaureate provide opportunity for enhanced learning and for students with particular needs.

Alternative programs and schools should be free to be authentic to their own traditions, values and ideals. A Catholic school should be able to teach Catholic teaching. That covers what is taught in the classroom and the values that permeate the school's policies, practices and standards.