Alberta Petition to End Public Funding for Private Schools Falls Short of Required Signatures
A citizen-led initiative petition that sought to ask Albertans whether the provincial government should cease its practice of funding private schools has failed to gather the required number of signatures. The petition, spearheaded by Calgary high school chemistry teacher Alicia Taylor, fell approximately 55,000 signatures short of the threshold needed to trigger a potential referendum on the issue.
Signature Campaign Falls Significantly Short
Taylor delivered 123,006 signatures to Elections Alberta headquarters in Edmonton on Wednesday, which represented the culmination of a 120-day signature-gathering campaign that began on October 14, 2025. However, this total fell well short of the 177,732 signatures required under Alberta's citizen initiative legislation.
The proposed question that would have been put to voters asked: "Should the Government of Alberta end its current practice of allocating public funds to accredited independent (private) schools?"
Campaign Raises Awareness Despite Defeat
Despite the petition's failure to reach the signature threshold, Taylor emphasized that the campaign succeeded in raising public awareness about education funding in Alberta. "Each of those signatures represents a conversation," Taylor stated. "Many of the people who signed were not aware that public funding goes towards independent schools. Most of the people we talked to were outraged."
Taylor encouraged her campaign volunteers to remain engaged in education issues, stating: "We need people who value public education to continue to be engaged." She had previously pointed to statistics indicating that Alberta allocates the highest percentage of per-student funding to private schools among all provinces while providing the lowest per-student funding for public school students.
Government Defends Private School Funding
In response to the petition campaign, Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides issued a statement defending the government's funding of independent schools. "They support students with extreme specialized learning needs, provide culturally and faith‑based education for diverse communities, and give parents meaningful choice in their child's education," Nicolaides stated.
The minister added: "Demonizing independent schools and the families that choose these schools is not the way to go. I am confident we can have a strong public education system and robust choices for Albertans at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive."
Broader Political Context
The petition campaign occurred against a backdrop of political activism in Alberta. Notably, Minister Nicolaides was himself the subject of a recall campaign last month that ultimately fell approximately 10,000 signatures short of its target.
Taylor, who was photographed in Calgary in October 2025 during the early stages of her campaign, emphasized that while the petition did not succeed in triggering a referendum, it succeeded in sparking important conversations about education funding priorities in the province.
