sosaustralia – SOS Australia

Fully Funding Private Schools is No Way to Increase Equity in Education

sosaustralia / July 17, 2026 / Funding

This is a summary of a paper showing that full taxpayer funding of private schools sujbect to them charging no fees will not increae equity in education. The full paper can be dowloaded below.

A critical question in assessing the proposal of Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor to fully fund private schools, subject to them not charging fees and allowing open enrolments is whether and to what extent it would increase equity in education. Even in the highly unlikely event that any private school system is prepared to give up its current resource advantage over public schools, it is equally unlikely to increase equity in education.

Public Education Needs a Level Playing Field to Flourish – A Reply to Save Our Schools

sosaustralia / June 15, 2026 / Funding

Tom Greenwell & Chris Bonnor

Trevor Cobbold and Save Our Schools have made a welcome and vigorous response to our proposal for a common framework for all Australian schools. The essence of the common framework is that all schools should be eligible for full needs-based public funding as long as they don’t charge fees and they do adopt inclusive enrolment practices.

Firstly, it is important to note an essential area of agreement: a deep shared commitment to public education understood as “publicly owned, publicly governed and publicly accountable secular institutions operating under universal social obligations.” This form of education embodies values of solidarity and fairness, citizenship and community that are an essential part of a good society, and it urgently needs to be promoted and strengthened.

Standarised Tests and Scripted Lessons Are Failing Both Teachers and Students

sosaustralia / May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 / League Tables and Testing

Is it time to ditch scripted lessons and heavily-packed curricula to focus on individual student growth?

This is the question posed by education expert Geoff Masters, in a new book called The Children We Leave Behind. He argues that age-based expectations are not serving all children well, while scripted lessons are failing teachers and students alike.

Masters, the former head of the Australian Council for Educational Research, asks how well children are served by a system in which two pupils in the same class can differ by six or more years of learning but are taught the same material.

He argues this system fails children at either end of the scale – those who are struggling and those who are unchallenged. He asks what if, instead of holding all pupils of the same age to the same learning expectations, we based expectations on where individuals are in their comprehension and individual growth.

“Too many students in our schools are being poorly served and left behind by machineries of schooling not fit for purpose,” Masters warns.

Tom Greenwell Reply to SOS

sosaustralia / May 11, 2026 / Funding, Public education

Tome Greenwell,co-author of Waiting for Gonski, has submitted the following comment on t our post Canada is No Solution. The comment is published in the interest of frthering public debate on an important issue in school funding in Australia.

In Ontario around 93 percent of students attend public schools. Two thirds of these public schools are secular, while one third are faith-based. But all are fully publicly funded and completely free; and all are required to enrol students from a local enrolment zone. The socioeconomic profile of the students in the faith-based schools is almost exactly the same as those in the secular schools. Social segregation is much lower in Ontario’s schools than Australia’s. The very small fee-charging private school sector serves around 7 percent of students and receives no public funding.

SA Greens Support Full Funding of Public Schools

sosaustralia / March 14, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

There is vast inequity between rich and poor in school outcomes in South Australia. A high proportion of socio-economically disadvantaged students in South Australia do not achieve national literacy and numeracy standards. There is a huge gap in school outcomes between advantaged and socio-economically disadvantaged students.

School funding in South Australia remains heavily biased against public schools. Government funding increase have favoured Catholic and Independent schools over public schools. Public schools have fewer resources than private schools and are significantly underfunded while Catholic and Independent schools are overfunded.

The new funding agreement between the Commonwealth and South Australian governments will provide a significant boost in funding for public schools by 2034. However, public schools will continue to be underfnded until 2034 and beyond.

The South Australian Greens support fully funding public schools by 2029. Here is the response by Robert Simms, Member of the Legislative Council of South Australia, to quesiotns put to election candidates by Save Our Schools.

We Need Stronger Public Education to Promote Social Cohesion

sosaustralia / March 11, 2026 / Public education

Australia has long been regarded as a successful multicultural society, integrating people from many different social and cultural backgrounds. Now, however, the sense of shared community that underpins this success is showing signs of strain. Racism and cultural intolerance have re-emerged as pressing social concerns.

Strengthening public education is one of the most practical ways Australia can build social cohesion and counter racism.

SA Greens Candidate Response to SOS Election Questions

sosaustralia / February 27, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

The Greens candidate for Unley in the South Australian election, Dylan Kiernan, has provided the following response to the SOS Election Brief on education outcomes and funding in Sourth Australia.

The Case for Full-service School Models in Australia

sosaustralia / November 26, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

In their new report, the Mitchell Institute calls for full-service school models as a purpose-built solution to Australia’s growing educational inequality.

Despite decades of reform and record investment, inequality in Australian schools persists and continues to grow. Students in high-needs communities can face multiple, compounding barriers to learning: poorer health, food insecurity, unstable housing and limited access to early and ongoing supports. This can contribute to rising absenteeism, disengagement and widening achievement gaps.

The Mitchell Institute’s new report Achieving Better and Fairer Schools: The case for full-service school models in Australia argues that traditional schools are not designed to respond to these complex needs.

A different approach is needed to address the growing inequities in student engagement, wellbeing and achievement. Our report calls for full-service school models as a purpose-built solution, designed to integrate education, health and social supports so that all children have the opportunity to thrive.

What fully funded public schools could do

sosaustralia / November 13, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

The following is the abstract of a paper by Professor Pasi Sahlberg and Trevor Cobbold published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Australia’s most disadvantaged students are heavily concentrated in under-resourced public schools, worsening gaps in learning, wellbeing and life outcomes. Although governments have pledged to fully fund public schools through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034, most schools will still fall short of their Schooling Resource Standard due to delayed and diluted implementation. The article argues that new investment estimated more than $20 billion over the decade must be directed to schools with the greatest need. Evidence shows four effective priorities: full-service school models, stronger family engagement, healthy school meals, and eliminating compulsory fees. Equity requires not just funding, but targeted, sustained action.

Fact Sheet: Money Matters

sosaustralia / May 2, 2025 / Funding

A Fact Sheet published by the prestigious US Learning Policy Institute shows that money matters in school education. The following is an abridged version of the Fact Sheet. The full version can be found here.

A large and growing body of evidence shows that money, when spent equitably and effectively on key school resources, improves student outcomes and closes achievement and opportunity gaps. Research consistently shows that when more money is spent on education, especially for students from low-income families, achievement and graduation rates improve, along with life outcomes such as employment and wages.