Julia
Gillard confirmed on August 20, 2012 that private schools would receive more
government funding “regardless of its wealth” (Topsfield, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2012). Topsfield’s article in The Sydney Morning Herald reveals that
the government is expected to pour in $3 billion with the hopes that it will
“lift school standards, not school fees”. There has always been contention
regarding private schools and whether they should get funding (Donnelly, 2009, p.
79). Initially, public funding’s was distributed to non-government schools in
the 1960s through State Aid Programs (Cahill & Gray, 2010, p. 124). Though
this faced opposition, with groups such as the Council for Defence of
Government Schools, believing it would lead to a reduction of funds provided to
government schools as well as compromise the principle of education being
“free, compulsory, secular, universal and public” (Cahill & Gray, 2010, p. 125).
I want to question how funding impacts school choice. On one hand, proponents
argue that due to increased funding, private school education has now become a
reality to more families – which increases school choice, encouraging parents
to “shop around” (Cahill & Gray, 2010, p. 122).
However,
as the affordability and availability to non-government schools increase,
confidence and enrolments to government’s schools have declined. Indeed, Cahill
and Gray (2010) speak of the “anxiety” parents have over sending their children
to public schools (p. 121, 122). Thus
there is a concern of this shift from public to private schooling – with many
parents believing that private schools are better (Donnelly, 2009, p. 79).
Indeed, Donnelly (2010) agrees with this notion, stating that students in
non-government schools consistently achieve higher tertiary entrance scores,
have the retention rate of 84.8% (based on 2006 figures and the Report on Government Services 2008) and
are more likely to undertake tertiary education (p. 80). These statistics again
sway parents towards private schooling. However, despite the idea of ‘school
choice’, ‘affordability and availability’ – it must be acknowledged most non-government
schools are incredibly exclusive - 94% being religiously affiliated (Ho, 2011,
p. 608). Furthermore, yearly fees in
2010 averaged more than $20,000 – this was up from $11,500 in 1999, according to Ho (2010, p.
608). As we can see – increased funding doesn’t exactly promote school choice
and inclusivity. In fact, it leads to the assumption that public schooling is
inferior, which according to Ho (2010) has the risk of leaving the public
education sector as a “safety net for the deeply disadvantaged” (p. 616). Thus,
increased funding in the private sector and school choice contributes to parent’s
anxiety and fears and promotes the idea that public schooling is “inferior”.
References
Cahill, R. and Jan Gray. (2010). Funding
and Secondary School Choice in Australia: A Historical Consideration. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education 35(1),
121-38.
Donnelly, K. (2009). The Politics of School
Choice. Quadrant, 53(11), 78-81.
Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the Presence
of Others: School Micropublics and Everyday Multiculturalism. Journal of
Intercultural Studies 30(6),
603-19.
Topsfield, J. (2012) Private schools to get more funding.
The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved: August 20, 2012 from: www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/private-schools-to-get-more-funding-20120819-24go6.html.
