Why Alberta doesn't need school boards

The Calgary Board of Education is appealling a decision by the courts in Alberta. In this decision, the Court ruled that two formerly private schools that have a religious affiliation may become publicly funded charter schools under the Palliser Board of Education (Lethbridge Region). This comes after the CBE denied the request of these schools to become part of the CBE's region.

The CBE wants to deny these schools access to public funding even though the schools meet all the requirements of the provincial government, simply because the political views of the CBE don't like religious affiliation.

The CBE does not raise it's own taxes or decide how to spend money. It doesn't even set curriculum. All of that is done by Alberta Learning (the Ministry of Education). So what does the board do? I don't know. But I think the solution to this problem of the CBE is as follows:

• Abolish the school boards
• Have money follow the student to each school
  
• Allow parents to choose which school their child attends
• Allow schools some leeway in accepting students
• Have each school operate a profit/loss statement to determine capital, maintenance, operating costs.
• Allow each teachers and schools to negotiate on an individual basis as to where teachers work. Do not allow the unions to make mass decisions. Give more freedom to Parent Councils to advise schools on what staffing changes need to be made.

This would do far more for education than wasting money on another level of bureaucracy.

On Ijtihad

I recently finished reading Irshad Manji's The Trouble with Islam Today, and I definitely recommend this book to every person on earth. It can not only be a guide to Muslims seeking another way outside the "desert Islam" of al-Wahhab and Qutb, it can be a guide to anyone who needs a little refresher in the Enlightenment.

Individual exploration, expression and discovery (Itjihad in Arabic) made Western Civilization. They made the "golden age" of Islam in the early centuries after the Prophet. Failure to continue on this path will doom civilization and the Dark Ages will return.

I commend Ms. Manji for the fortitude it must have taken to publish this book, and in particular to translate it into Arabic for readers in countries that ban such thought provoking works.

An Example of how Liberals don't understand overtaxation

Yesterday, the Government of Canada announced it was going to cut $2 Billion dollars in program spending because it did not see value in the programs in question.

Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum, a former bank economist, was quoted as saying:

"Why in the world do we have to cut those programs on the same day that the government is announcing a $13-billion surplus?"

To Mr. McCallum, any money the government has should be spent by the government. In his mind EVERY program the government can imagine is a good program.

Fortunately for Canada, the current government knows that some programs are a waste of money or worse, they are bad for the country. Some of the programs cut this week are in that latter grouping (particularly the Court Challenges Program).

Congrats to the Government for having some guts. Now take it a step further and get the government out of a number of other things...