There was a recent article in the Toronto Star discussing the TDSB to vote on controversial fundraising change some call a ‘tariff on parent donations’. It is worth reading. I was recently on a panel for the Walrus Talks that was discussing public education and fundraising, and here were some of the points that I made.
- There are many excellent programs benefitting public education– e.g. Connected North – remote Indigenous communities – providing live interactive learning experiences through video technology – many other examples.
- Some programs are available in all schools, while others are focused on most needy schools. Some are “innovative,” and others are bread and butter, like school food programs.
- There was an article recently in the Toronto Star “TDSB to vote on controversial fundraising change some call a ‘tariff on parent donations’” about school fundraising in Toronto – Toronto may have a policy requiring funds raised in schools that are more affluent or successful in fundraising might have to be shared with other less fortunate schools partially. Fundraising practically improves schools but it is often a distorted impact that is very positive for some schools and does not help others. More important than the equity debate is this question – is fundraising really the answer to the importance of having more funds for schools to improve buildings, ensure more extra-curricular activities, make sure there is adequate funds for resources teachers need, etc.
- So I looked at TDSB – it is a registered charity and their T3010 is online. https://www.charitydata.ca/charity/toronto-district-school-board/895788222RR0001/
- The TDSB had 246,000 students. It had total revenue of $3.5 Billion in 2023. Of that $1.5 billion came from the province (Ontario), $1.6b from the City of Toronto.
- Receipted donations were only $1,7m. Funds received from other registered charities was only $636,862. Non-receipted fundraising (like spring fairs, bake sales, etc) – $32,954,000.
- Therefore total fundraising of approximately 35M in 2023. If total revenue was $3.5 billion, then $35m is approximately 1% of total revenue. Just as another comparison the TDSB made $23m just renting its land/buildings.
- Also, to compare to universities, you have U of T with $4.3B in revenue and 90,000 students. U of T had $86 million in donations, $82 million from other charities, and $20 million from fundraising that was not receipted – almost $190 million. U of T, therefore, is raising about 5 or 6 times more money than the TDSB from fundraising.
- In my view, if we want a great educational system, there is no replacement for increased government funding of public education. So we may need more philanthropy, but we definitely need more government funding.
- What is the best approach for philanthropy? Should it be to fund charitable activities or fund advocacy to increase funding of public education or both? Probably both. A major focus on increasing fundraising is probably a mistake unless a lot of extra funds are used to pressure different levels of government to increase funding for schools.
Here is a recording of the Walrus talk that I gave on public education.