Getting to Better Schools

Although many Canadians do not believe it, the international evidence shows that Canada has one of the most effective public education systems in the world. In various international studies, Canadian students rank well compared to most other countries. Just as importantly, the gap between our best and weakest students is smaller than in most other countries. This excellent performance, especially given Canada’s diverse population, is a main reason that so many delegations from other countries come to look at our education system with a view to learning what they could do differently. As someone who meets with many visitors, I know that outsiders are impressed with the consistent quality of our schools. In short, there are no grounds for thinking that there is some kind of education crisis in public education in this country.

That we have much to be proud of in public education does not mean improvement is impossible. Although good, our system is far from perfect...