We've spent the money, now what about the results? |
An old Australian education myth was debunked recently when the Productivity Commission released new data showing taxpayer funding for public schools is growing faster than for private schools.
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Over the past 10 years, real per-student funding grew by 27 per cent for government schools and 25 per cent for non-government schools; with government schools starting from a much higher funding base.
We have equity and excellence problems in our school system, but they are not due to the old chestnuts of a growing public-private funding divide and too much government spending being channeled towards non-government schools.
Over the same period from 2015 to 2024, the percentage of Australia students attending public schools declined from 65.2 per cent to 63.4 per cent. So parents do not seem to think the increased funding for government schools is enough to drive them back into the public system.
It's true that money matters and if you ask most teachers - regardless of school sector - they will tell you their schools need more funding.
But similarly, if you ask teachers for ideas to improve schools that wouldn't cost more money, they will all give lots of specific suggestions. So why don't we focus on these cost-free ideas?
Taxpayer money for government, Catholic, and independent schools has increased well above inflation and enrollment growth. What do we have to show for it? The simple answer is not much.
If you are Pollyanna in an especially happy mood, squinting through rose-coloured magnifiers, you might just see some small improvements.
Our literacy and numeracy results seem to have flatlined with slight lifts on some metrics (NAPLAN and international tests) - at least our educational decline hasn't continued. But there have been no meaningful improvements, and around one in five Australian students still languish below international literacy and numeracy benchmarks.
It is easy to re-tell........