The ideology of neoliberalism, with its relentless emphasis on competition, individual responsibility, and market logic, has seeped deeply into Canadian public education. It presents itself as pragmatic and modernising, promising efficiency, innovation, and responsiveness to “stakeholders.” Yet beneath this rhetoric lies a corrosion of the foundational principles of public schooling — equity, universality, and the collective good. The infection spreads subtly, recoding the language of education into the language of business, until students become “clients,” schools become “service providers,” and learning becomes a transactional commodity.
From public good to private investment
Historically, public education in Canada was ostensibly justified as a public good — a collective investment in the civic, economic, and cultural life of the nation, even as systems like the residential school network reveal the deep contradictions embedded in that framing. Neoliberalism recasts that vision into a model of education as a private investment, a shift with antecedents before the neoliberal reforms of premiers like Bill Vander Zalm and Christy Clark but accelerated under their tenures.
As Beth Mintz explains in Neoliberalism and the Crisis of Higher Education, neoliberalism “is the dominant ideology of this historical moment… replacing the notion of the public good with a personal responsibility for one’s own welfare.” The purpose of schooling, under this framework, becomes the maximisation of personal economic gain, legitimising cost-cutting, tuition increases, and user-fee models.
Market logic, managerialism, and inequity
The marketisation of education manifests in the “student-as-customer” paradigm and the rise of managerialism — corporate-inspired governance that values efficiency and competition over collaboration and democratic decision-making (Parker, 2022). Schools and universities compete for enrolment by branding themselves and differentiating their “product,” privileging those with greater purchasing power. Key Performance Indicators and league tables narrow the definition of success, reducing education to what can be measured and sold.
This competition amplifies inequality. Schools in wealthier areas draw on greater resources and influence, while those serving lower-income and marginalised communities face persistent shortfalls. Within this logic, students with disabilities are framed as costly “exceptions” rather than integral participants. Inclusion budgets are reframed as expendable and marketed as feel-good initiatives instead of being recognised as the essential heart of a public project to create equity for all.
Measuring what matters: the social and economic return of equity
As I argued in my piece on the ethics of flourishing, the most meaningful performance index for public education measures how effectively it supports its most vulnerable students. When the least privileged feel valued, included, graduate, and move into fulfilling work, the returns are immense: stronger communities, reduced social fragmentation, and measurable economic benefits in reduced costs to health, social service, and justice systems. These integrated social and economic returns far outweigh any initial investment, while the costs of exclusion — lost potential, fractured social bonds, and entrenched inequality — are profound and enduring.
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Flourishing as an ethical imperative
Like many of you, I caught CBC’s Ideas episode the other day, where philosopher Angie Hobbs spoke about the ancient Greek concept of eudaimonia—a term sometimes translated as happiness or welfare, but more richly understood as human flourishing. In a world flooded by crisis, it may seem indulgent or impractical to contemplate the good life, […]
The incompatibility of neoliberalism with public education’s mission
Public education’s purpose is to prepare all students for full civic participation, critical thinking, and contribution to a just society. Neoliberalism narrows this to producing economically competitive individuals, shifting the system’s role from democratic formation to human capital production. The logics of maximising shareholder value and maximising collective human potential cannot coexist without one eroding the other.
Reclaiming the public in public education
Resisting the neoliberal infection means reasserting education as a public good, with stable public funding, democratic governance, and rejection of market performance regimes. Equity and universality must be non-negotiable, and every student’s right to a rich, inclusive education protected from market distortion. As Mintz notes, “Given the belief in the power of the market, the non-profit world now follows the logic of the private sector” — a trajectory that must be reversed to safeguard public education’s future.
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The goodwill ledger: how schools calculate inclusion allotments
Schools in British Columbia keep an invisible ledger—one that tracks not just budgets, but emotions, tone, and perceived worthiness. Families who ask too clearly, too often, or on behalf of more than one child are quickly marked as overdrawn. This essay continues the meditation from Of Sinners and Scapegoats, tracing how goodwill becomes a currency, advocacy a liability, and support a rationed commodity. What begins as care becomes calculation—and those who refuse to stay small are the first to be punished.
