SOS Australia – Page 27 – Fighting for Equity in Education

The Facts About School Funding in Victoria

Trevor Cobbold / July 3, 2019July 4, 2019 / Funding

Total government funding per student in Victorian private schools adjusted for inflation (“real funding”) increased by over $1,500 per student between 2009 and 2017 while funding for public schools was cut. Government funding of public schools increased during the Gonski funding period of 2013-2017, but it was significantly less than the increase for private schools.

Commonwealth Government funding increases massively favoured private schools in both periods. The Victorian Government cut real funding of public schools by $530 (-6.8%) per student between 2009 and 2013. It increased real funding in the Gonski period, but not sufficiently to offset the earlier cut. As a result, public schools had far fewer human and material resources per student in 2017 than in 2009 and far less than available in private schools.

Government funding increases have been badly mis-directed in favouring the more privileged, better-off school sectors and students. Over 80% of disadvantaged students in Victoria are in public schools and nearly 90% of disadvantaged schools are public schools.

The Facts About School Funding in NSW

Trevor Cobbold / June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 / Funding

Total government funding per student in NSW private schools adjusted for inflation (“real funding”) increased by over seven times that for public schools between 2009 and 2017. Even during the Gonski funding period of 2013-2017 the funding increase for private schools was three times that for public schools.

While the NSW Government increased current dollar funding of public schools between 2013 and 2017, it failed to cover rising costs. Real funding was cut by $202 (-2.4%) per student after cutting funding by $394 (-4.4%) per student between 2009 and 2013. It means public schools have fewer human and material resources per student.

The NSW Government took the opportunity of increased Commonwealth funding for public schools to cut its own real funding of public schools while maintaining funding for private schools.

Government funding increases have been badly misdirected in favouring the more privileged, better-off school sectors and students. About 85% of disadvantaged students in NSW are in public schools and 96% of disadvantaged schools are public schools.

The Facts About School Funding in Australia

Trevor Cobbold / June 20, 2019June 24, 2019 / Funding

This is a summary of a new Education Research Paper published by Save Our Schools. It can be downloaded below.

New figures show that total government funding per student in public schools adjusted for inflation (“real funding”) was cut between 2009 and 2017 while funding for Catholic and Independent schools increased massively. Even during the Gonski funding period of 2013-2017 the funding increase for private schools was over three times the increase for public schools.

Studies Since 2015 Showing that Money Matters in Education

Trevor Cobbold / June 13, 2019June 23, 2022 / Funding

Here is a list of studies since 2015 showing that money matters in education, especially for disadvantaged schools and students. Many of these studies have been reviewed on this site. The list was updated on 3 April 2022.

More Studies Show That Money Really Does Matter in Education

Trevor Cobbold / June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 / Funding

Three new US studies have found that increasing funding for disadvantaged students increases school results. They bring to 21 the number of studies in the last five years showing that funding increases targeted at disadvantaged students improves achievement. This is a remarkable degree of unanimity amongst education economists. Even notorious sceptics of the worth of increasing school spending such as Professor Eric Hanushek from Stanford University (USA) and The Economist magazine have been forced to concede that money matters for disadvantaged students.

School vouchers expand despite evidence of negative effects

sosaustralia / June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 / Choice and competition

For the past couple of decades, proponents of vouchers for private schools have been pushing the idea that vouchers work.

They assert there is a consensus among researchers that voucher programs lead to learning gains for students – in some cases bigger gains than with other reforms and approaches, such as class-size reduction.

They have highlighted studies that show the positive impact of vouchers on various populations. At the very least, they argue, vouchers do no harm.

As researchers who study school choice and education policy, we see a new consensus emerging — including in pro-voucher advocates’ own studies — that vouchers are having mostly no effects or negative effects on student learning. As a result, we see a shift in how voucher proponents are redefining what voucher success represents. They are using a new set of non-academic gains that were not the primary argument to promote vouchers.

How Money Matters

sosaustralia / June 3, 2019June 3, 2019 / Equity in education, Funding

The following is a summary of a new report from the Learning Policy Institute in the United States on school finance reform. It reviews reforms by four US states to undertake progressive school funding strategies in order to substantially improve learning opportunities for all students. It provides recommendations for federal and state policies to address funding inequalities that contribute to the cycle of poverty. It shows that money matters when it comes to improving schools and that how money is spent is critical.

School Choice Increases Social Segregation and Inequity in Education

Trevor Cobbold / May 27, 2019May 29, 2019 / Choice and competition, Equity in education

A new OECD report, Balancing School Choice and Equity, shows that school choice policies have increased social and academic segregation between schools which, in turn, reduced equity in education. Australia is a prime example of the impact of choice on social segregation. School choice has been at the centre of education policy for the last 20 or more years. Australia now has one of the most socially and academically segregated school systems in the OECD and has highly inequitable education outcomes.

A Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education

sosaustralia / May 22, 2019May 22, 2019 / Public education

US Presidential contender, Senator Bernie Sanders, has released a far-reaching program to reform public education. Many of its policies resonate in the Australian context. The following is the Introduction to the plan together with an outline of its main policies.

His first principle is fundamental:

“Every human being has the fundamental right to a good education. On this 65th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, we are committed to creating an education system that works for all people, not just the wealthy and powerful.”

Continue reading “A Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education”

On the Definition of Equity in Education

Trevor Cobbold / May 15, 2019 / Equity in education

The Gonski Institute for Education recently published a valuable paper on equity in education titled Improving Educational Equity in Australian Education. It discusses what is equity, why equity in education matters and makes recommendations for improving equity in education. However, its definition of equity in education is limited and imprecise. The paper should have adopted the equity definition of the original Gonski report because it offers a more effective guide for education policy and funding.