SOS Australia – Page 2 – Fighting for Equity in Education

NSW Independent Schools Enrol Very Few Low Income Students

Trevor Cobbold / May 17, 2026May 17, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

It is fascinating to see how Independent schools and their lobby groups now resort to claiming they enrol many students from low income families as justification for their over-generous and ever increasing taxpayer funding. The latest is the claim by Independent Schools NSW that they serve the needs of lower income families. Catholic school organisations also make similar claims.

The facts are that NSW Independent and Catholic schools serve a very small proportion of low income students and only a tiny proportion of schools are disadvantaged. It is NSW public schools that serve the vast majority of low income families and nearly all disadvantaged schools in NSW are public schools. Moreover, public schools are vastly underfunded to meet the learning needs of these students while Independent and Catholic schools are very well resourced to meet the learning needs of their students.

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.

Canada is No Solution

Trevor Cobbold / May 8, 2026 / Public education

The following letter was submitted to the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald in response to an opinion piece by author Jane Caro in the Sun-Herald on 3 May. The letter was not published.

It is baffling that erstwhile advocates of public education want to jettison core principles that have governed public education for 150 years. Jane Caro’s proposal to adopt Ontario’s system of full taxpayer funding of private schools (SMH 3 May) should be comprehensively rejected because it breaches the core principles of secular, non-discriminatory and free education.

It would introduce structural contradictions in the public system: some schools would be secular and others free to propagate a religion; some would be prohibited from discrimination in hiring staff while others would be allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity and marital status.

Full taxpayer funding of private schools is no guarantee that they would not be able to charge fees. Other countries sch as Netherlands, Belgium and New Zealand which integrate Catholic schools in the public system permit a plethora of fees, capital charges and pseudo fees in the form of so-called voluntary contributions.

Catholic and Independent schools had the chance to participate in a truly needs-based funding system designed by David Gonski. They squibbed it in favour of special funding deals. Generous government funding and fees provide Catholic schools with a significant resource advantage over public schools and a very large advantage in the case of Independent schools. It is incomprehensible that they would give this up in the light of the Gonski experience.

It is equally incomprehensible that the Catholic bishops and education leaders y would give up the privilege of diverting government funding intended for regional and outer suburban disadvantaged schools to inner-city schools competing for market share with wealthy Independent schools.

The direct way to reduce social segregation in schools is to stop the massive underfunding of public schools and ensure their full funding as well as end the overfunding of private schools.

Victorian Budget Must Fix Public School Funding Crisis

Trevor Cobbold / April 29, 2026 / Funding

These are the key points of a new brief on the state of school funding in Victoria. The full paper can be downloaded below.

Victorian public schools face a funding crisis that must be addressed in the forthcoming Victorian Government Budget.

Public schools are massively underfunded and have been since the Gonski funding model was introduced in 2014 to ensure they are fully funded at the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). In 2026, Victoria’s public schools are only funded at 86% of their SRS. Total underfunding is estimated at $2.2 billion.
Public schools are underfunded because of underfunding by both the Commonwealth and Victorian governments and because of “accounting tricks” used by the Victorian Government to defraud public schools

Resource Increases in NSW Private Schools Outstrip Public Schools

Trevor Cobbold / April 9, 2026 / Funding

New figures show that Independent schools have a major resource advantage over Catholic and public schools in NSW. Government funding increases have favoured Catholic and Independent schools over public schools since 2009. Catholic and public schools now have similar resource levels. However, public schools remain massively underfunded for the challenges they face while Independent and Catholic schools are overfunded. The favourable funding for private schools is a key factor behind the enrolment shift to these schools.

Ben Carroll Mispresents the Gonski Report on Capital Funding

Trevor Cobbold / April 5, 2026 / Funding

Ben Carroll, Deputy Premier of Victoria and Education Minister, argues that government capital funding on public schools should be included in the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) because this was recommended by the Gonski Report in 2011. He claimed on the ABC 7.30 Report on 1 April that the Gonski Report recommended that capital expenditure on schools be included in the SRS. We Fact Check the claim and find it is incorrect. The Gonski Report recommended that capital expenditure be excluded from the SRS.

Underfunded public schools, overfunded private ones – the gap grows

Trevor Cobbold / April 1, 2026 / Funding

New school income data show that Catholic and Independent schools have increased their resource advantage over public schools in Australia. This trend has been driven by sustained increases in government funding combined with growth in fees in private schools. Decades of favourable funding for private schools is a key factor behind the enrolment shift to these schools. Public schools are massively underfunded while private schools are overfunded.

Over-Generous Government Funding Gifts Resource Advantage to Private Schools

Trevor Cobbold / March 18, 2026April 9, 2026 / Funding

New figures show that Catholic and Independent schools have increased their resource advantage over public schools. This advantage is the result of generous Commonwealth government funding increases supplemented by fee increases higher than the rate of inflation. Public schools remain massively underfunded in each state except the ACT while private schools are overfunded in each state except the Northern Territory. The favourable funding for private schools is a key factor behind the enrolment shift to these schools.

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.