The ACT Education System Can Do Better

Posted on Saturday September 24, 2016

A speech by Trevor Cobbold to a seminar sponsored by the Institute of Governance in Canberra on the topic ‘What or How Much Value Does the ACT Education System Add to Your Child’s Learning’. >> Read on...

Public Primary Schools do as Well as Independent Schools and Better than Catholic Schools

Posted on Saturday September 17, 2016

A new study shows that public primary schools perform as well as Independent schools in NAPLAN tests and do better than Catholic schools >> Read on...

Productivity Commission Fails to Lift the Bonnet on its Own Funding Figures

Posted on Monday September 12, 2016

The Productivity Commission report on the National Education Evidence Base failed to lift the bonnet on its own funding figures and see that the funding engine is badly misfiring. >> Read on...

Victorian Government Schools Short Changed on Funds

Posted on Friday September 9, 2016

A Victorian public school principal laments the poor state of funding in Victoria >> Read on...

Ken Boston Lambasts Political Failure on Gonski

Posted on Wednesday September 7, 2016

A key member of the Gonski School Funding Review, Ken Boston, has savaged the political failure to implement the Gonski plan. >> Read on...

Apple and Other Multinationals are Fleecing the Disadvantaged

Posted on Monday September 5, 2016

Massive tax evasion by multinationals is fleecing the disadvantaged of decent health and education services. Despite Australia’s recent efforts to clamp down on tax evasion, much more needs to be done. >> Read on...

No Success for Independent Public Schools

Posted on Thursday August 18, 2016

Independent public schools have failed to improve student outcomes according to a report by a bi-partisan committee of the WA Parliament. It is a major blow to the Federal Government policy of increasing school autonomy. >> Read on...

Birmingham’s Unscrupulous Duplicities on School Funding

Posted on Monday August 15, 2016

A critical factor behind the stagnation in the NAPLAN results is the continuing failure of governments to spend money where it is most needed and will do most good. Funding for public schools has been cut while funding for private schools has increased. Simon Birmingham has engaged in unscrupulous duplicities about trends in school funding that are designed to avoid further investment in reducing disadvantage in education. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Results Show That the ACT Government Has Dropped the Ball on Education

Posted on Thursday August 4, 2016

The new NAPLAN results show that the ACT school system continues to under-perform given its advantaged population. The results are a condemnation of Government inaction on school education. They warrant a full, public independent inquiry. >> Read on...

Ending Federal Funding of Public Education is Still on the Agenda

Posted on Wednesday April 20, 2016

Ending Federal funding of public schools is still on the agenda despite the claims of the Prime Minister and the Federal Education Minister that they are committed to public schools. COAG has agreed to consider the states taking full responsibility for public school funding in return for a share of personal income taxation. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Report Shows Little Progress in Reducing Inequity in Education

Posted on Sunday April 10, 2016

The NAPLAN results for 2015 show little progress in reducing inequity in education. Large percentages of disadvantaged students do not achieve national standards and large achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students continue. >> Read on...

Study Shows that Funding Increases for Disadvantaged Schools Boosts Results

Posted on Tuesday April 5, 2016

A new study shows that school finance reforms in the US led to larger increases in funding for low income school districts than for high income districts and that this increased the absolute and relative achievement of students in low income districts. >> Read on...

Can We Afford Gonski?

Posted on Thursday March 31, 2016

The full Gonski funding plan is easily affordable by reducing tax concessions for the wealthy and clamping down on corporate tax avoidance. We cannot afford not to invest in Gonski because it will bring significant social and economic benefits. >> Read on...

What My School Really Says About Our Schools

Posted on Tuesday March 29, 2016

A summary of a new report that shows that the increasing segregation between high and low SES schools is being driven by large funding increases for private schools. >> Read on...

School Myths Busted

Posted on Tuesday March 29, 2016

New research shows an increasing socio-educational hierarchy of schools as enrolments shift from from lower socio-educational advantage schools to higher socio-educational advantage schools. >> Read on...

Money can’t buy you love but can it buy you a better education?

Posted on Monday March 28, 2016

New academic analysis shows that public and private schools in Victoria with a similar socio-economic status student profile have very similar VCE results. However, public schools achieve these results with far less funding than the private schools. >> Read on...

NSW Government Agrees to Reform School Closure Procedures

Posted on Thursday March 24, 2016

The NSW Minister for Education has accepted the recommendations of a Parliamentary committee report to implement a genuine and transparent consultation approach on proposed school closures. >> Read on...

Victorian Catholic Education Commission Favours High SES Schools in Funding Allocations

Posted on Tuesday March 22, 2016

A report by the Auditor-General of Victoria shows that report shows that the Catholic Education Commission is directing state government funding away from the lower socio-economic status schools to schools with a higher socio-economic status. There is also evidence that Catholic education authorities are favouring high SES schools in re-allocating Commonwealth funding. >> Read on...

OECD Report Highlights Education Inequity in Australia

Posted on Monday February 29, 2016

A new OECD report highlights large inequities in education in Australia. It says that more resources and a multi-pronged approach are needed to address disadvantage in education. >> Read on...

Reversing the Flight to Private Schools Depends on Reforming Australia’s Incoherent and Unfair Funding System

Posted on Saturday February 20, 2016

The long-term enrolment shift to private schools has stopped in recent years. But, whether it will be sustained is uncertain given school funding trends that massively favour private schools. >> Read on...

Media Release: New Figures Show that Government Funding Has Massively Favoured Private Schools

Posted on Tuesday February 16, 2016

Updated school funding figures published today by Save Our Schools show that government funding per student in private schools has far outstripped that for public schools over the past 15 years and that increases in government funding for many elite private schools has far exceeded that for many disadvantaged public schools. >> Read on...

Australia’s Unfair School Funding System Must Be Overhauled

Posted on Monday February 15, 2016

Updated school funding figures show that government funding per student in private schools has increased much faster than for public schools. Funding increases for many elite private schools have far exceeded those for many disadvantaged public schools. >> Read on...

Another Study Shows That Money Matters in Education

Posted on Thursday February 4, 2016

A new review of research studies shows that money matters in education. There is a positive relationship between increased school funding and student achievement. >> Read on...

Labor’s Gonski Promise Puts the Heat on Turnbull

Posted on Monday February 1, 2016

Labor’s commitment of $4.5 billion in school funding for 2018 and 2019 is a stark contrast to the Turnbull Government’s plan to ditch Gonski funding after 2017 and cut school funding in real terms. But, Labor must explain why it has reduced the $7 billion it promised in government. >> Read on...

The Increasing Ethnic Divide Between Schools Undermines Multiculturalism

Posted on Wednesday January 27, 2016

Rather than being microcosms of the community, schools are increasingly divided by class and ethnicity. A new study shows that the growing social and ethnic divide between schools has worrying implications for multicultural social relations and for social justice. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Online Test of Writing Could Widen the Achievement Gap

Posted on Friday January 22, 2016

New research by the US National Centre for Education Statistics shows that the introduction of on-line testing of writing, as planned by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, may widen the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. >> Read on...

Oxfam Says that Global Tax Avoidance is Starving Funding for Vital Public Services

Posted on Wednesday January 20, 2016

A new Oxfam report says that the global tax avoidance network is depriving governments of resources needed to fund vital public services such as education and health. < >> Read on...

Louisiana School Voucher Scheme Reduces Student Achievement

Posted on Monday January 18, 2016

The much-heralded Louisiana school voucher program is another free market failure. >> Read on...

Media Release: Government Could Easily Fund Gonski Plan

Posted on Thursday January 14, 2016

SOS analysis shows that the Federal Government could easily fund the last two years of the Gonski plan. >> Read on...

Govt Has a Massive Potential Revenue Pool to Fund Gonski

Posted on Thursday January 14, 2016

The Government could easily fund the $7 billion for the last two years of Gonksi. It has a potential revenue pool of at least $34 billion a year. >> Read on...

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