Fraser Institute continues bias against public education

    TORONTO, May 3 /CNW/ - The Fraser Institute released today the latest in
a long line of in-house research studies claiming that private education is
superior to public education.
    "Once again the Fraser Institute is clearly trying to legitimize their
bias against public education," said Ken Coran, president of the Ontario
Secondary School Teachers's Federation. "Their research, which basically
consists of a poll of parents who already send their children to private
schools, does not shed much new insights despite its release as newsworthy
information. The inherent bias in asking private school supporters if they
like and support private schools seems to escape the Fraser Institute. Not too
surprisingly, according to the study more than 50% of parents who send their
children to private institutions make more than $120,000 a year."
    "OSSTF too has a bias and it is strongly in favour of public education.
While we recognize that private education can be an option for some parents,
we have long believed that private or faith-based education should not be
financed by public dollars. The timing of the release of this research study
and its contents don't appear to be anything other than an attempt to buttress
John Tory and the Conservative party's private school tax credit which was
largely repudiated during the last election. Polling has also shown that
giving public money to help faith-based and private institutions is clearly
not a priority for the vast majority of Ontarians," concluded Coran.

    OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They
include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational
assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, psychologists,
secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support
personnel, attendance counsellors, and many others in education.

For further information: Ken Coran, President, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, [phone] or 1-800-267-7867