AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT
SCHOOLS
PRESS RELEASE 428
MAY 5, 2011
GONSKI RELUCTANT TO
BITE THE POLITICAL BULLET:
FINAL REPORT ON FUNDING
PUT OFF TO END OF 2011
DOGS note with interest that their submission to the Gonski
Review of Funding for Schooling has not yet made it to the website.
Meanwhile, he is putting off the day of reckoning with another issues
paper in about August 2011 and a ‘comprehensive program of research.’ Gonski and his political masters can either confront or
cave in to sectarian interests as they attempt to walk through a social,
political and ideological minefield. If they cave in the vast majority of children
in the public sector will suffer most grievously.
There have been two Communiqués in the last two
months. A third communiqué was issued on 8 March 2011 and a fourth on 29 April
2011.
In the third communiqué he indicated the need for ‘a
solid evidence base for the panel’s recommendations,’ and referred to the ‘many
concerns around the current funding arrangements for schooling.’
1.
He also referred to the fact
that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was finalizing its
report to the panel on the current processes for funding disadvantaged students
at the Australian Government and state and territory levels across all
schooling sectors.
2.
The Allen Consulting Group
was said to the ‘scoping the potential value of a schooling resource standard
or benchmark in new funding arrangements.
3.
Access Economics is also
assessing existing Australian Government and state and territory government
funding models and methods.
4.
A further research project
is intended to document the opportunities and challenges Australia faces in
improving educational outcomes for all students, particularly those from
disadvantaged backgrounds. This will be done by a consortium led by the Nous
Group which also includes the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and the
National Institute of Labour Studies.
The results of all this research will form the basis
of the August Issues Paper and be accompanied by the publication of this
research.
DOGS note that none of the research indicates an
interest in historical as well as statistical research. Does Gonski seriously believe that he can ‘neutralise’
the public funding of sectarian education debate with experts presenting
allegedly ‘neutral’ research.
Meanwhile, Brian Croke,
the executive director of the Catholic Education Commission of New South Wales
and deputy chair of the National Catholic Education Commission has published an
interesting article in the Australian of 29 April, p. 12 – the same day of the Gonski committee’s fourth communiqué.
He is aware and even prepared to admit that the SES
model has reached its used-by date. His concern is that its detractors will now
withdraw the overfunding which the Catholic sector enjoyed for its institutions
under Howard’s ‘guarantee’ of ‘funding maintenance’.
He argues that ‘If a school is considered overfunded
in 2011 then it must logically have been overfunded
as early as 1984 and asks:
Why did no one claim such schools were being
overfunded then? They were not then, nor are they now.
This is where Brian Croke
should either stop dissembling or not betray his ignorance. In 1984 there were
two dissenting reports to the School’s Commission funding program for Catholic
and so-called independent schools. They were produced by the Australian
Teachers Union representative, Van Davy, and State School Parents
representative Joan Brown issued dissenting reports and the cosy
agreement between the private and public sector split open. That was the
beginning of the end of the Schools Commission.
At least Chris Bonner, in his comments on school
funding in The Drum of 31 January
2011 is prepared to go back to the 1960s.
…Knowing where the needs lie is only half the
battle. Over the last half century we’ve managed to conjure up all manner of
reasons why we need to publicly fund and grow a socially selective private
sector to operate alongside public schools which must serve all students in all
locations without condition.
In the 1960s we needed to bring Catholic schools up to the standard of public
schools. Then we extended funding to all non-government schools, but rationed
it according to need. Fifteen years ago we began to see and describe the
funding of private schools as an entitlement to parents in their capacity as
taxpayers, sidestepping the somewhat alarming social and fiscal ramifications.
Chris Bonner still appears to believe that it was
and still is possible to provide equality of educational opportunity by funding
both a public and private sector. However, a growing number of Australian
citizens, including members of the DOGS understand that you cannot have
equality of educational opportunity for children so long as institutions with a
policy of exclusion , and the objective of the first
class ticket to heaven and the good job are subsidized at public expense.
And
Listen to the DOGS program
3CR, 855 on
the A.M. dial
12 Noon
Saturdays