Calls for special deal to be struck for NT, which has biggest funding gap between public and private schools
I’m confused. What does this have to do with funding? Are you saying private schools should have the same amount of funding so it’s cheaper for you to send your kid to private school?
Go back a couple replies in the thread - that’s what I was referring to with the funding stuff.
I categorically reject the implication that this is a funding issue. It’s a quality of education issue and that is largely not impacted by funding.
In fact - I’m pretty sure the funding between a public and typical independent private school is relatively similar. Private schools receive less funding than public schools, and often the difference is pretty close to the tuition fee. Ending up with about the same level of funding per student either way. But even where there is a big gap (e.g. private schools where the tuition fee is higher than my entire salary as a parent) I suspect it doesn’t actually result in better student outcomes than if the school had more reasonable funding.
Doesn’t this article show that the funding received by private schools is actually more in most cases?
Even if funding was exactly the same, private schools are most definitely providing more per student than public schools. Unless you believe those fees being paid are entirely pocketed by the teachers. Where exactly do you believe those fees are going? Those fees, along with the funding, are going into facilities, equipment and personell that public schools simply can’t afford.
Sure, the quality of education isn’t entirely based on funding. But to sit here and claim funding doesn’t help is a little privileged. Kind of like how people who say money doesn’t buy happiness, usually have money. It’s easy to say money doesn’t improve education, when you have the money.
I still don’t see why private schools should be receiving more government funding than public schools though.
Doesn’t this article show that the funding received by private schools is actually more in most cases?
No it doesn’t show that - go back and read it again.
The article says that funding is supposed to be an 80/20 split between the two levels of government, with the federal budget covering the lions share of private school funding and state governments covering the lions share of public school funding. It also shows the state governments are mostly failing to provide the level of funding they are supposed to provide, while the federal government is providing exactly the right amount or a little too much.
It shows percentages, not dollar amounts. The dollar amount is different for every school in both private and public systems and the method to calculate how much funding each school is entitled to is complex — for a lot of the funding they are working with estimates, for example if students don’t turn up the school gets less funding (and for some schools, less than half the enrolled kids actually attend). It’s impossible to know when the budget is set ahead of time what the attendance will be - they guess and they get it wrong all the time.
It’s also worth noting that there are actually five sources of funding for schools and this article only covers two of them. Schools receive substantial funding from parents (even public schools usually expect parents to pay thousands of dollars per year on laptops/etc), they receive funding from teachers (83% of teachers in Australia claim they spend some of their own salary on resources - estimated to be close to $200m per year nationwide), and they receive funding from various fundraising efforts the schools undertake throughout the year - from donation drives to renting out school assets/land (e.g. sports facilities and ovals are often rented out on weekends).
Generally, public schools receive more government funding (and probably more teacher funding*) and private schools receive more from other sources. But that’s a generalisation and it varies significantly from school to school and year to year.
I think teacher funding is the hero of the five sources of funding - it’s the smallest part of the budget but also the most effective one. Teachers know what they need and they find good deals. For example a parent might spend $100 on a single text book for one student. A teacher might get that book for free (donated by a parent?) or very cheap (op shop?) and then illegally pay for a dozen photocopies at officeworks.
Sure, the quality of education isn’t entirely based on funding. But to sit here and claim funding doesn’t help is a little privileged.
I never said funding doesn’t help. I just said funding is not the main indicator of student outcomes.
In fact more funding generally means the government has flagged the school as failing to provide an appropriate level of education… and while the extra funding surely helps it’s also a simple fact that kids at that school aren’t getting what they are entitled to.
If you are deciding which school to send your kid to… then funding shouldn’t be the main thing you consider.
