As school board elections loom, new report exposes Alberta’s narrow ‘parental rights’ agenda

EDMONTON, AB — As Alberta heads into critical school board trustee elections this fall, a new report from Parkland Institute sheds light on how a politicized and exclusionary vision of “parental rights” is reshaping education policy, undermining inclusion in schools, and advancing the privatization of public education.

The report — Challenging ‘Parental Rights’: A Primer for Parents, Students, Educators, and Advocates —documents how the Alberta government has adopted a sweeping set of policies that invoke “parental rights” to impose new restrictions on sex education, gender identity, and public health measures — often with far-reaching consequences for vulnerable students.

Promoted as a movement to empower all parents, “parental rights” is shown in the report to reflect the views of a vocal minority of well-organized, politically connected groups with deep roots in conservative ideology. These include advocacy groups like Parents for Choice in Education and the Alberta Parents’ Union, as well as Take Back Alberta, which has turned its sights on school boards as a key battleground in a growing ‘culture war’ narrative being pushed into Alberta.

A key focus of the report is the connection between “parental rights” and the broader push to privatize public education. “Under the banner of ‘school choice’, Alberta has redefined ‘parental rights’ as the right to redirect public funds toward private education providers,” says report author Heather Ganshorn. Alberta already funds private schools at 70 per cent of the public per-student allocation — among the highest rates in Canada — and is now the first province to publicly fund the construction of private schools. The report highlights how this shift erodes the public system while privileging private providers with fewer obligations to transparency or equity.

With municipal elections approaching in fall 2025, the report warns that the groups behind the “parental rights” movement are now turning their attention to school board races. Trustee positions are low-profile but powerful, and the combination of low turnout and minimal scrutiny makes them a strategic target for ideological candidates. Groups like Parents for Choice in Education are already holding training sessions to prepare school trustee hopefuls to run on platforms aligned with their views.

“There is a real risk that school boards could be captured by candidates who oppose inclusion and seek to further privatize education,” says Ganshorn. “This report is a tool for those who want to push back.” In addition to its analysis, the report outlines several strategies that parents, students, and public education advocates can use to critically engage with trustee elections — from identifying dog-whistle language in candidate platforms to asking pointed questions about funding, inclusion, and the role of public schools.

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For the full report, visit https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/parental_rights

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Rita Espeschit
Research Communications Specialist, Parkland Institute
[email protected]