Australia’s school funding model is widening inequality and weakening public education. Without reform, it risks undermining social cohesion, productivity and democratic stability.

Like many grandparents, we worry about the world we are leaving to our grandchildren. Climate change, geopolitical breakdown, nuclear weapons, pandemics – these are enormous challenges for democracies already facing threats from authoritarianism.

Having spent our working lives in the school system, we are asking: where do schools fit in this changing world?

There has never been a more vital time for our leaders to prioritise a strong, socially representative public school system as a pillar of democracy – and to confront the risks posed by the progressive privatisation of our schools.

The health of the public school system is the key to maintaining the health of the whole system

Australia will continue to have a hybrid system of public and private schools existing in a symbiotic relationship. Private schools, as currently operated, need public schools. In biological terms, they exist in a parasitical relationship with the host organism, public schools. This can be a mutually beneficial relationship in nature; or it can be one that damages or destroys the host on which their own existence relies. It is alarming to see parents with a longstanding commitment to public schools who are now unwilling to enrol their children in them for fear of teacher shortages and reduced curriculum options.

Public schools grow altruism – the love of strangers. They give each generation a place to practise equality and........

© Pearls and Irritations