Alberta charter schools: Paradox and promises

The intent of this article is to examine the role of charter schools in edu cational reform in the Alberta context and to argue that the real promise o f charter schools resides less in fostering innovation and efficiency in pu blic education, and more in providing schools of choice for parents and in addressing diverse values and goals of education. This article is premised on the concern for the global phenomenon of governments adopting market sol utions to address "problems" related to diversity, efficiency, and accounta bility in the public sector. Governments depoliticize education and debates regarding its social purposes "by placing it as much as possible in the pr ovince of parental authority" and market forces, and at the same time "deny parents the democratic authority to implement educational policy that requ ires state support" (Gutmann, 1987, p. ZI). This approach marks a "paradigm shift in the economics of education policy and social policy in general" ( Gewirtz, Ball, & Bowe, 1995, p. 2), with a new emphasis on accountability a nd efficiency through competition and consumer choice.