Minister eyes deal to fully fund public schools across country after landmark WA agreement
Minister eyes deal to fully fund public schools across country after landmark WA agreement
The agreement is the first of eight that need to be negotiated with state and territory governments this year.
This is good to see. Over the long term, to be honest, I think we'd be better off with less and less state government control over all sectors, with more being split between federal and local councils.
Regarding this story in particular, it's disappointing that the only mention of private schools is in a single uncontextualised quote right at the bottom. The government should not be providing private schools with one cent of funding, let alone the current situation where the federal government provides more funding to private schools than it does to public.
I must have missed that class in school, but isn't the point of a private school is meant to be privately funded.
Oh makes sense, I went though public education so I probably wouldn't understand.
The government should not be providing private schools with one cent of funding
If they're going to do that - we need a lot more schools. Half the schools in this country are private and they already don't have enough teachers for the number of students.
They also need to pay teachers a lot more, I know at least one school that hasn't got enough teachers because nobody can afford rent near the school on a teacher's salary.
we need a lot more schools
We do need more schools anyway. A lot of schools are already at or nearing their capacity.
But as far as far as private school funding is concerned, I'm not suggesting they be banned. Just that they fund their damn selves. We don't need the government giving them money so their board can get executive bonuses, or fund a refurbishment to their private gym.
The government should not be providing private schools with one cent of funding, let alone the current situation where the federal government provides more funding to private schools than it does to public.
It isn't explicitly that the government (whether it is state or Federal) is giving money to the schools, it's the students that are funded. Every kid in Australia is entitled to $x per year in education funding. I'm the product of public schools, and my kids also go to public schools. But, I don't begrudge people the choice of sending their kid to a private school also getting their $x in government funding. They pay their taxes, they are entitled to the funding. It gets a little more complicated than this, as schools get funding for major upgrades like new libraries etc.
As to the argument on whether people should get government funding if they elect to send their kid private, that has precedence. For 100 years, the private schools lost government funding and were on their own. In the end, that lead to the Golburn School Strike. The government agreed that it was in no shape to actually take the 36% or so of students who attend private schools.
Yes, the federal government does give more money to private schools than it does to public: That's actually been a bit of a cherry-picked statistic. This is because most of the public school funding has been coming from the state governments. At least, to now. If all the states sign on to this, we should see some transparency on this matter.
It isn’t explicitly that the government (whether it is state or Federal) is giving money to the schools, it’s the students that are funded
I don't care what mechanism is used, the fact is that we have an incredibly efficient public school system, but it's struggling under the weight of its current demand with its current funding level. If our public schools are not funded to the point that they don't know what to do with their existing funds, private schools should not be seeing one cent of that money. Not when we spend years after deciding to build a new school just trying to figure out where to put it because the government can't afford to buy a site. Not when students of supposedly-free public schools spend thousands of dollars per year on various fees, equipment, and other school necessities.
They pay their taxes, they are entitled to the funding
No, they are not. I don't have kids. Where's my cut of that money? Where's my cut of the roads budget because I choose to cycle or take the train? Where's my cut of welfare?
Tax money goes toward funding government services. That's what it's for. You don't get a refund on any other service you don't use*. This should be no different. (* Okay that's not quite true. They do the same shitty thing with Medicare, and I oppose it just as virulently there—probably more so, considering in many cases you end up seeing the same damn doctors anyway.)
If private schools think they don't have enough money to run privately, then they could start by trying to run a bit more efficiently. Cut executive bonuses. Build facilities that meet the needs of students, not the wants of their marketing departments. Heck, maybe don't have as much of a marketing department.
You'll forgive me if a temper tantrum thrown by an offshoot of the world's largest paedophile protection racket does not convince me that we should fund them.
But, I don’t begrudge people the choice of sending their kid to a private school also getting their $x in government funding. They pay their taxes, they are entitled to the funding.
No, they do not. If we want to make it about tax, those kids are dependents and whomever is claiming them is getting the tax rebates and revenue they are entitled to. Tying individual entitlement to education funding is nonsensical if you think about it for half a second, downright absurd if you think about it in the context of Australias profoundly prejudiced and unequal system.
Never mind the notion that we're funding religious indoctrination camps with little to no oversight or accountability... go ask women at universities how they like dealing with the cloistered, Tate-farmed freaks produced by these indoctrination camps.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Western Australia's public schools are set to be fully funded by 2026 after the federal and state governments reached a landmark agreement that could be replicated in other jurisdictions.
They will set out funding arrangements for primary and secondary schools around the country at a time the federal government is determined to reform the sector.
The level of funding for public schools has long been a source of contention amid declining academic results and teacher shortages.
The new federal funding for WA will be tied to giving teachers more resources and helping kids who've fallen behind with measures such as catch-up tutoring, Mr Clare said.
WA Education Minister Tony Buti said the agreement would drive "real improvements" for students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Federal opposition education spokesperson Sarah Henderson said Mr Clare needed to do more to get the states to "lift their game".
The original article contains 486 words, the summary contains 145 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!