Calgarians Rally to Reallocate Private School Funds to Public Education

Calgarians are rallying behind a new petition aiming to halt public funding for Alberta's private schools, a move that could significantly reshape the landscape of local education. Initiated by Calgary high school teacher Alicia Taylor, the campaign to redirect funds to the public system officially began collecting signatures on October 14, 2025, after Elections Alberta approved the initiative on October 3, 2025.

This grassroots effort comes at a critical time for Calgary's public schools, which are grappling with immense pressure from surging enrolment and persistent underfunding. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has faced overcrowded classrooms, with roughly 3,000 students turned away from their neighborhood schools in the last three years, and many schools operating at or above capacity. The system is also struggling with staffing shortages, including substitute teachers, and the CBE pulled $2.6 million from its reserves in May 2024 to balance its budget for the upcoming school year. Parents across the city have voiced concerns over these funding shortfalls and their impact on student support.

Alberta currently allocates approximately $461 million, or five percent, of its nearly $9.9 billion K-12 education budget to independent schools, providing 70% of the per-student funding—the highest rate in the country. This disparity is particularly stark as Alberta has consistently ranked among the lowest provinces for per-student funding in public schools.

For the petition to be considered for a referendum, proponents need to collect 177,732 signatures, representing 10% of the votes cast in the 2023 provincial general election, by the deadline of February 11, 2026. Calgarians can find the petition via a featured link on abfundspublicschools.ca, joining a province-wide conversation on educational equity and resource distribution.