Occupy Schools!

A new report from the OECD finds that the gap between rich and poor in its 22 member countries is increasing (Canada is roughly in the middle of the pack). A related report in the Huffington Post indicates that Canadians are increasingly segregating themselves according to income. In terms of major cities, Calgary is the worst offender, followed by Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Quebec. 

“What does this have to do with education?” you ask. Two things.

First, the more segregated neighbourhoods become, the more homogeneous neighbourhood schools become and the less likely they are to be places where children from all walks of life can rub shoulders. As a result, school choice policies actually increase the incidence of heterogeneous schools: as more schools of choice become accessible to more poor parents, the chosen schools become more socially integrated. And when parents choose private schools on the basis of academic or extra-curricular factors that have nothing to do with their cultural backgrounds, the chosen schools become more and more diverse.

Second, the OECD talks about “upskilling” the workforce as a good way to reduce the gap between rich and poor. Naturally, I agree with this assessment, but the OECD is silent when it comes to how to accomplish this feat. At the risk of repeating myself, here is my modest proposal: allow schools to use research-based methods and materials that are known to be best for children from disadvantaged homes.

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