SOS Australia – Fighting for Equity in Education

New Figures Show Huge Funding Increases for Private Schools & Cuts to Public Schools

Trevor Cobbold / February 13, 2020 / Funding

The following is a summary of a new Education Research Paper published by Save Our Schools. The full paper can be downloaded below.

New figures show that government (Commonwealth and State) funding increases massively favoured private schools over public schools between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Government funding for private schools increased by $1,779 per student, adjusted for inflation, while funding for public schools was cut by $49 per student. The increase for private schools was 18.9% while funding for public school students was cut by 0.4%.

Lessons Learned From Technology in the Classroom

sosaustralia / February 10, 2020 / National issues

Larry Cuban, Emeritus Professor of Education at Stanford University, recently drew on his extensive study of technology in education over many years to draw some key lessons about the use of technology in the classroom. The following are extracts from his article which is available on his blog.

Low SES Schools Have Far Less Resources than High SES Schools

Trevor Cobbold / January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 / Equity in education

The following is a summary of a new Education Research Paper published by Save Our Schools. The paper can be downloaded below.

New data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018 show that Australia allocates more and better quality teacher and physical resources to socio-economically advantaged secondary schools than to disadvantaged schools. The gaps are amongst the largest out of 36 countries in the OECD. The highest performing countries in the OECD generally allocate resources more equitably between low and high SES secondary schools.

Call for Private Schools to Pay Local Government Rates

Trevor Cobbold / January 9, 2020 / Funding

Private schools should pay rates according to the Municipal Association of Victoria. It claims that local councils are missing out on millions of dollars in revenue because private schools are exempted from paying rates. It says the exemptions are unfair and inequitable as other ratepayers must pay more to cover the revenue loss.

OECD Says 3 in 4 Australian Students Do Not Try on PISA Tests

Trevor Cobbold / December 17, 2019 / League Tables and Testing

One factor not considered in the commotion over the continuing decline in Australia’s PISA results is whether students try their best on the tests. The OECD’s own report on PISA 2018 shows that about three in four Australian students and two-thirds of students in OECD countries did not try their hardest on the tests. There are also wide differences between countries. It has potentially explosive implications for the validity of international comparisons of student achievement based on PISA.

The PISA data also shows increasing student dissatisfaction with school which likely contributes to lack of effort on tests and is a factor, among others, behind Australia’s declining results. There is also a perplexing contradiction between Australia’s declining PISA results and its improving Year 12 results. Lack of effort in PISA may partly explain this because performance on PISA has no consequences for students as they don’t even get their individual results. In contrast, Year 12 outcomes affect the life chances of students and even students dissatisfied with school have greater incentive to try harder. The fact that Australia’s Year 12 results have improved significantly since the early 2000s raises further questions about the reliability of the PISA results.

Is The Shepparton Super-School Merger Valid?

sosaustralia / December 16, 2019 / School closures

The following is a press release issued by the Save Our Schools – No Transition Group in Shepparton, Victoria. It shows that the Shepparton schools merger plan was not formally agreed by all four school councils as required by the School Merger Guidelines.

We have evidence that the Shepparton Education Plan was not formally agreed to by all four school councils as required by School Merger Guidelines, prior to the announcement on 19 April, 2018, by Education Minister, James Merlino, that it would proceed.

Despite a requirement that the motion to accept the model proposed by the Strategic Advisory Committee be passed at a properly constituted meeting with a quorum, it appears that the motion was not passed in accordance with School Merger Guidelines and School Council Governance.

An FOI request written in September, 2019 requesting written advice to the Minister as required by School Merger Guidelines that all four councils had voted on the plan at a meet ing with a quorum has been completed and together with existing evidence appears to confirm that two of the four schools did not pass the motion to accept the recommendation of the Strategic Advisory Committee of one school on one site, based on the schools within a school model, before the announcement in April 2018. It was not voted on until months later when it was finally carried.

Community information is that three of the four schools did not pass the motion prior to the announcement and it was never voted on by one and later ratified by two.

In fairness to all concerned parties, this plan needs to be halted until this issue has been investigated and satisfactorily addressed with adequate consultation with the families of Greater Shepparton as requested at a public meeting in August, 2019.

Local MP Refuses to Discuss Shepparton Super-School

sosaustralia / October 4, 2019 / School closures

The following is a letter by a member of the Stop Shepparton Super-School group in response to a refusal by the local Independent MP, Suzanna Sheed, to discuss the super-school proposal.

The Executive Committee of Save Our Schools No Transition in Shepparton has been trying for months to obtain a meeting with our local Independent MP, Suzanna Sheed, in order to present to her the reasons and concerns of members of the community that are against having one huge super school in Shepparton with no choice for schooling and poor communication about its planning.

We have been aggressively refused a meeting with Ms. Sheed. She needs to remember that she was elected to represent her constituents.

Stop Shepparton Super-School Rally

sosaustralia / September 30, 2019 / School closures

The Stop Shepparton Super-School group will hold a rally on Friday 4th October at 11.30am to protest against the merger of four secondary schools in Shepparton/Mooroopna.

The march will assemble at Suzanna Sheed’s office where we will try to present letters from the public to her again, then march down Wyndham Street to Queens Gardens and Wendy Lovell’s office where we will call on her to receive letters. There will be speakers and information for the public.

Stop the Shepparton Super-School

sosaustralia / September 30, 2019 / School closures

We have been fighting hard for over six months to have our voice heard on the merger of four Greater Shepparton secondary schools into one school of 2,700 to 3,000 students. We have met a stony wall of silence. We have been told ‘You need to get on board for your children’s sake, during this difficult time of transition.’ Frankly, if one more educator, politician or mayor says that sentence again, we might choke.

The decision to amalgamate the four schools was made during September/October in 2017. The so-called ‘community consultation’ involved only an online survey and two workshops held in Mooroopna and Shepparton on the same day, that families of secondary students could attend. The consultation was not advertised either in time or adequately for parents to take part in.

School Spending Cuts Lead to Declines in Student Achievement

Trevor Cobbold / September 29, 2019 / Funding

A new study has found that recession-induced spending cuts in school education in the United States led to declines in student achievement, particularly in school districts serving economically disadvantaged and minority students. It is the second study in recent years showing the effect of spending cuts and the 27^th study since 2015 showing that school expenditure has a significant effect on student achievement.