AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
PRESS RELEASE 588#
SECTARIAN SCHOOLS HAVE TO BE PAID OFF BEFORE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS GET ANY CRUMBS
Dr Ken Boston, a member of the Gonski Committee and erstwhile Victorian public school administrator, has lashed out at the Andrews Victorian government, saying its new school funding law will do nothing to fix disadvantage and inequity in Victorian classrooms. "To market this as Gonski is to do Gonski a grave disservice.. This is simply handing a parcel of money to the non-government sector to distribute as they see fit. " he said.
Under legislation that passed Parliament last week, Catholic and independent schools will receive at least 25 per cent of the state government funding given to public schools. See http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/gonski-reforms-architect-attacks-andrews-government-over-school-funding-20150303-13u2ry.html
Dr. David Zyngier, faculty of education, Monash University, also complained that the Labor government’s linking of state funding of private schools to public school costs betrayed the basic principle of the Gonski funding model – that future increases in government funding for private schools should be determined by actual need’. He pointed out that the move is in shartp contrast to that of the NSW Government which repealed the link between state government funding of private schools and public school costs and replaced it with a needs-based funding system. ‘So much for equity’, he said.
DOGS SAY: WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT?
How can you have equity if you have unequal schools that pick and choose children on the basis of religion, wealth or anything else? If you give State Aid to such sectarian or private schools you will get inequity. It follows as night follows day. The wealthy private school lobby, spearheaded by the Catholic lobby, has ensured that before any child in our public schools has public money sent their way, the sectarian sector must be paid off’. After all ‘the poor are always with us’. For wealthy private schools ‘the poor ‘must always remain with us. If they create a disturbance, they might be worth a few crumbs. Otherwise: Who will be the goats and scapegoats to their sheep?The linking of State Aid to private schools and inequity is just logic. It is also the lesson of recent historical experience ( 1964-2015) and that of the nineteenth century ( 1805-1880). It has been avoided by countries like Finland, Germany and successful nations that do not siphon off public funds and the educational opportunities of the majority to the private sector.
If Gonski and others want to improve the educational opportunities of the majority of Australian children, they will
OPPPOSE STATE AID TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS OUTRIGHT!
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