The real question in school funding is where the money goes |
Australia’s school funding debate has focused on headline spending figures while obscuring whether resources counted toward the Schooling Resource Standard are actually reaching classrooms, students and support staff.
For years Australians have been told that education funding is increasing. Federal and state ministers regularly announce record investments in schools. Budgets contain billions of dollars in new spending. Governments proudly report progress towards meeting the Schooling Resource Standard, the benchmark established following the Gonski Review to identify the resources schools require to educate their students effectively.
Yet after more than 40 years working in public education, I have become increasingly uneasy.
The unease does not come from how much governments claim they are spending. It comes from a much simpler question. Where does the money actually go?
If education funding has increased so dramatically, why do so many schools continue to struggle? Why are school counsellors stretched beyond capacity? Why are specialist support services difficult to access? Why are teachers expected to manage increasingly complex behavioural, emotional and social challenges with limited support?
The public hears about billions of dollars flowing into education and assumes schools must be benefiting. Teachers often look around their classrooms and wonder why the promised abundance remains so difficult to find.
Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question. For years the debate has focused on how much governments spend. The more important question may be what happens to that money after it enters the........