Money alone does not educate kids
APC MEDIA RELEASE
1 February 2012
Closing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students and a renewed commitment to public education of the highest quality in every community is essential for Australia's future.
The Australian Parents Council (APC) has consistently championed the cause of increased student funding, especially for students suffering from various forms of disadvantage.
However, closing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in both government and non-government schools will not be achieved just by increasing funding. It is also about teachers, teacher leaders, parents and school communities. It is about expectations and the belief that every child can learn and improve. It is about parent school partnerships and there being a real understanding of the role that parents and families can play in improving learning outcomes.
In a media release issued today, Federal President of The Australian Education Union, Angelo Gavrielatos, says that a 'secret' report by Professor Richard Teese, released by The Australian today, confirms the need for an overhaul of the way schools are funded. He contends that funding policies, particularly at the federal level, have increased inequality in education.
Governments, Mr Gavrielatos says, have been funding the exodus of students to the non-government schooling sector. That claim flies in the face of evidence that demonstrates government funding for students attending non-government schools remains, on average, at about half the level of government funding for students attending government schools.
The latest Productivity Commission figures show that nationally, government expenditure per student in all government schools was $14,380 in 2009-10 while government expenditure per student in all non-government schools was $7,427 in 2009-10. Non-government school parents contribute the rest of the cost of their children's schooling from their after tax income.
Professor Teese says in his report, "public schools serving mainly socially disadvantaged families struggle to convert opportunity to outcomes, and remain within the older framework of expectation and performance. Australia does not fund them as if the intention were to enable them to produce results that are not simply 'good, for who students are', but good in comparison with the performance expected of schools serving socially advantaged families."
In contrast to Mr Gavrielatos and Professor Teese, APC executive director Ian Dalton said today, "The achievement of equitable schooling outcomes is not only achieved by throwing money at schools. APC asks, where are the government policies and priorities that focus on meeting the needs of the individual student and improving their learning? Are our teachers being adequately prepared and supported for that challenge?
"Where are the policies and program priorities that focus on engaging parents in their children's school experience; policies and programs that build on the research which clearly shows parents can help their children succeed in school, particularly in disadvantaged schools; policies and programs that recognise the importance of parents' roles as first and continuing educators of their children?
"All of these questions will need to be addressed if the gaps that Mr Gavrielatos points to are going to be closed."
