Public School Enrolments Increase

Posted on Saturday February 4, 2017

New school enrolment data show a reversal of the steady drift of students from public to private schools over the past 40 years. >> Read on...

Labor Again Exposed as Morally Bankrupt on Private School Overfunding

Posted on Wednesday February 1, 2017

The unity ticket between Tanya Plibersek and Tony Abbott on continuing millions in overfunding for private schools was on display again this week. >> Read on...

Birmingham Misleads on School Funding and Outcomes

Posted on Thursday January 26, 2017

Despite the claims of the Federal Education Minister, funding matters for improving the results of disadvantaged students. Targeting funding increases to disadvantaged schools and students is fundamental to improving student achievement. >> Read on...

Birmingham Obfuscates on School Funding and Results

Posted on Wednesday January 25, 2017

Simon Birmingham has wilfully ignored the evidence about school funding and outcomes. >> Read on...

Birmingham is Wrong Again on School Funding and Outcomes

Posted on Sunday January 22, 2017

The Federal Education Minister’s claim about a vast increase in school funding is totally wrong. The increase per student between 2004-05 and 2013-14 was only 4.5 per cent, adjusted for inflation, and the large part of the increase went to private schools. >> Read on...

More School Funding Cuts by Stealth

Posted on Thursday December 8, 2016

Proposals before the national education ministers’ council meeting next week involve cutting school funding by stealth. The cuts are being disguised by fiddling with the rates of annual increases in funding provided by the current funding model. >> Read on...

Schools in Deep Water Over Mandatory Swim Lessons

Posted on Tuesday November 29, 2016

The Victorian Government is in deep water with school principals over the lack of funding for its new mandatory swimming lessons. >> Read on...

Media Release: End the Corruption of Private School Funding

Posted on Sunday November 20, 2016

SOS submission to national education ministers’ council calls for an end to the corruption of private school funding. >> Read on...

Private School Funding is Corrupted by Special Deals

Posted on Sunday November 20, 2016

Private school funding is corrupted by special deals and arrangements that provide several billion dollars in over-funding that contradict the principle of needs-based funding. >> Read on...

School Autonomy in England Fails to ‘Unleash Greatness’

Posted on Monday November 14, 2016

A comprehensive review of the experience with school autonomy in England has found little evidence of improvement amongst disadvantaged schools and that it weakens local communities. >> Read on...

Private Schools Do Not Have an Entitlement to Taxpayer Funding

Posted on Wednesday November 9, 2016

Private schools are not automatically entitled to taxpayer funding. Government funding for private schools should be based on need. >> Read on...

Funding Increases for Victorian Elite Private Schools Far Exceed that for Disadvantaged Public Schools

Posted on Wednesday October 12, 2016

Total government funding per student in high fee, exclusive private schools in Victoria increased by nearly three times more than for the most highly disadvantaged public schools between 2009 and 2014. >> Read on...

Education Disadvantage is Being Ignored in the ACT Election Campaign

Posted on Monday October 10, 2016

Education disadvantage is the forgotten issue in the ACT election campaign despite its importance to the Territory’s social well-being and economic prosperity.< >> Read on...

Media Release: Education Disadvantage is the Forgotten Issue in the ACT Election Campaign

Posted on Wednesday October 5, 2016

Education disadvantage is the forgotten issue in the ACT election campaign despite its importance to the Territory’s social well-being and economic prosperity >> Read on...

School Funding and Equity in the ACT

Posted on Sunday September 25, 2016

An Education Research Brief published by SOS calls for a new funding framework for ACT public schools to provide greater funding for disadvantaged students. >> Read on...

The ACT Education System Can Do Better

Posted on Friday September 23, 2016

A speech by Trevor Cobbold to a seminar sponsored by the Institute of Governance in Canberra on the topic ‘What or How Much Value Does the ACT Education System Add to Your Child’s Learning’. >> Read on...

Public Primary Schools do as Well as Independent Schools and Better than Catholic Schools

Posted on Friday September 16, 2016

A new study shows that public primary schools perform as well as Independent schools in NAPLAN tests and do better than Catholic schools >> Read on...

Productivity Commission Fails to Lift the Bonnet on its Own Funding Figures

Posted on Sunday September 11, 2016

The Productivity Commission report on the National Education Evidence Base failed to lift the bonnet on its own funding figures and see that the funding engine is badly misfiring. >> Read on...

Victorian Government Schools Short Changed on Funds

Posted on Thursday September 8, 2016

A Victorian public school principal laments the poor state of funding in Victoria >> Read on...

Ken Boston Lambasts Political Failure on Gonski

Posted on Tuesday September 6, 2016

A key member of the Gonski School Funding Review, Ken Boston, has savaged the political failure to implement the Gonski plan. >> Read on...

Apple and Other Multinationals are Fleecing the Disadvantaged

Posted on Sunday September 4, 2016

Massive tax evasion by multinationals is fleecing the disadvantaged of decent health and education services. Despite Australia’s recent efforts to clamp down on tax evasion, much more needs to be done. >> Read on...

No Success for Independent Public Schools

Posted on Wednesday August 17, 2016

Independent public schools have failed to improve student outcomes according to a report by a bi-partisan committee of the WA Parliament. It is a major blow to the Federal Government policy of increasing school autonomy. >> Read on...

Birmingham’s Unscrupulous Duplicities on School Funding

Posted on Sunday August 14, 2016

A critical factor behind the stagnation in the NAPLAN results is the continuing failure of governments to spend money where it is most needed and will do most good. Funding for public schools has been cut while funding for private schools has increased. Simon Birmingham has engaged in unscrupulous duplicities about trends in school funding that are designed to avoid further investment in reducing disadvantage in education. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Results Show That the ACT Government Has Dropped the Ball on Education

Posted on Thursday August 4, 2016

The new NAPLAN results show that the ACT school system continues to under-perform given its advantaged population. The results are a condemnation of Government inaction on school education. They warrant a full, public independent inquiry. >> Read on...

Ending Federal Funding of Public Education is Still on the Agenda

Posted on Tuesday April 19, 2016

Ending Federal funding of public schools is still on the agenda despite the claims of the Prime Minister and the Federal Education Minister that they are committed to public schools. COAG has agreed to consider the states taking full responsibility for public school funding in return for a share of personal income taxation. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Report Shows Little Progress in Reducing Inequity in Education

Posted on Saturday April 9, 2016

The NAPLAN results for 2015 show little progress in reducing inequity in education. Large percentages of disadvantaged students do not achieve national standards and large achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students continue. >> Read on...

Study Shows that Funding Increases for Disadvantaged Schools Boosts Results

Posted on Monday April 4, 2016

A new study shows that school finance reforms in the US led to larger increases in funding for low income school districts than for high income districts and that this increased the absolute and relative achievement of students in low income districts. >> Read on...

Can We Afford Gonski?

Posted on Wednesday March 30, 2016

The full Gonski funding plan is easily affordable by reducing tax concessions for the wealthy and clamping down on corporate tax avoidance. We cannot afford not to invest in Gonski because it will bring significant social and economic benefits. >> Read on...

What My School Really Says About Our Schools

Posted on Monday March 28, 2016

A summary of a new report that shows that the increasing segregation between high and low SES schools is being driven by large funding increases for private schools. >> Read on...

School Myths Busted

Posted on Monday March 28, 2016

New research shows an increasing socio-educational hierarchy of schools as enrolments shift from from lower socio-educational advantage schools to higher socio-educational advantage schools. >> Read on...

Money can’t buy you love but can it buy you a better education?

Posted on Monday March 28, 2016

New academic analysis shows that public and private schools in Victoria with a similar socio-economic status student profile have very similar VCE results. However, public schools achieve these results with far less funding than the private schools. >> Read on...

NSW Government Agrees to Reform School Closure Procedures

Posted on Wednesday March 23, 2016

The NSW Minister for Education has accepted the recommendations of a Parliamentary committee report to implement a genuine and transparent consultation approach on proposed school closures. >> Read on...

Victorian Catholic Education Commission Favours High SES Schools in Funding Allocations

Posted on Monday March 21, 2016

A report by the Auditor-General of Victoria shows that report shows that the Catholic Education Commission is directing state government funding away from the lower socio-economic status schools to schools with a higher socio-economic status. There is also evidence that Catholic education authorities are favouring high SES schools in re-allocating Commonwealth funding. >> Read on...

OECD Report Highlights Education Inequity in Australia

Posted on Sunday February 28, 2016

A new OECD report highlights large inequities in education in Australia. It says that more resources and a multi-pronged approach are needed to address disadvantage in education. >> Read on...

Reversing the Flight to Private Schools Depends on Reforming Australia’s Incoherent and Unfair Funding System

Posted on Friday February 19, 2016

The long-term enrolment shift to private schools has stopped in recent years. But, whether it will be sustained is uncertain given school funding trends that massively favour private schools. >> Read on...

Media Release: New Figures Show that Government Funding Has Massively Favoured Private Schools

Posted on Monday February 15, 2016

Updated school funding figures published today by Save Our Schools show that government funding per student in private schools has far outstripped that for public schools over the past 15 years and that increases in government funding for many elite private schools has far exceeded that for many disadvantaged public schools. >> Read on...

Australia’s Unfair School Funding System Must Be Overhauled

Posted on Monday February 15, 2016

Updated school funding figures show that government funding per student in private schools has increased much faster than for public schools. Funding increases for many elite private schools have far exceeded those for many disadvantaged public schools. >> Read on...

Another Study Shows That Money Matters in Education

Posted on Wednesday February 3, 2016

A new review of research studies shows that money matters in education. There is a positive relationship between increased school funding and student achievement. >> Read on...

Labor’s Gonski Promise Puts the Heat on Turnbull

Posted on Sunday January 31, 2016

Labor’s commitment of $4.5 billion in school funding for 2018 and 2019 is a stark contrast to the Turnbull Government’s plan to ditch Gonski funding after 2017 and cut school funding in real terms. But, Labor must explain why it has reduced the $7 billion it promised in government. >> Read on...

The Increasing Ethnic Divide Between Schools Undermines Multiculturalism

Posted on Tuesday January 26, 2016

Rather than being microcosms of the community, schools are increasingly divided by class and ethnicity. A new study shows that the growing social and ethnic divide between schools has worrying implications for multicultural social relations and for social justice. >> Read on...

NAPLAN Online Test of Writing Could Widen the Achievement Gap

Posted on Thursday January 21, 2016

New research by the US National Centre for Education Statistics shows that the introduction of on-line testing of writing, as planned by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, may widen the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. >> Read on...

Oxfam Says that Global Tax Avoidance is Starving Funding for Vital Public Services

Posted on Tuesday January 19, 2016

A new Oxfam report says that the global tax avoidance network is depriving governments of resources needed to fund vital public services such as education and health. < >> Read on...

Louisiana School Voucher Scheme Reduces Student Achievement

Posted on Sunday January 17, 2016

The much-heralded Louisiana school voucher program is another free market failure. >> Read on...

Media Release: Government Could Easily Fund Gonski Plan

Posted on Wednesday January 13, 2016

SOS analysis shows that the Federal Government could easily fund the last two years of the Gonski plan. >> Read on...

Govt Has a Massive Potential Revenue Pool to Fund Gonski

Posted on Wednesday January 13, 2016

The Government could easily fund the $7 billion for the last two years of Gonksi. It has a potential revenue pool of at least $34 billion a year. >> Read on...

Closed for Learning: The Impact of School Closures on Students and Communities

Posted on Sunday January 10, 2016

Closing public schools not only has a negative impact on student performance but also creates hardship for communities already struggling with disinvestment. Closing schools in the US is a vehicle for the privatization of education. >> Read on...

The De-Professionalization of Teaching

Posted on Friday January 8, 2016

A policy brief from a US education policy think tank says that competition and choice policies in education are leading to the de-professionalization of teaching. >> Read on...

Well-off Private Schools Are Over-Funded by $3 Billion a Year

Posted on Tuesday January 5, 2016

Some 1,400 private schools are over-funded by taxpayers to the tune of $3 million a year. This money would be far better spent on supporting disadvantaged public and private schools. >> Read on...

Wealthy Private School Parents Evading Taxes

Posted on Sunday January 3, 2016

The wealthy claim that they are entitled to taxpayer funding to send their children to elite private schools because they pay taxes. However, it appears that many of them are evading taxes. >> Read on...

Technology is No Game-Changer in the Classroom

Posted on Sunday December 20, 2015

A teacher explains that new technology is having little impact in the classroom because most educational applications of technology ignore what we know about basic learning theory. >> Read on...

Turnbull Govt Fails on Improving Maths and Science

Posted on Thursday December 10, 2015

The Turnbull Government’s innovation statement virtually ignores school education. It proposes an increase in funding for maths and science in schools of only $54 per student over five years. This will do little to reverse Australia’s declining maths and science results. >> Read on...

More Evidence That Better School Results Increases Economic Growth

Posted on Thursday December 10, 2015

Another study shows that investing in school education brings a big economic return. >> Read on...

The ACT’s Underperfoming School System Warrants Independent Review

Posted on Monday December 7, 2015

The latest NAPLAN results show that the ACT school system (public and private) is underperforming on average student results, student progress and equity. >> Read on...

Building Our Nation Through Public Education

Posted on Thursday December 3, 2015

A new paper by Professor Alan Reid shows that Australian education is not equitable with large achievement gaps between rich and poor. Education policy over the last 40 years has exacerbated inequity. >> Read on...

Reflections on Teaching: The Craft of Teaching

Posted on Monday November 30, 2015

Teaching is a craft. A teacher needs to have many techniques because every teaching situation is different and a good teacher constantly thinks about which ones to use in different situations. >> Read on...

Top Public Service Mandarin Badly Bungled School Funding Figures

Posted on Wednesday November 25, 2015

The head of PM&C, Michael Thawley, badly bungled the figures on school funding earlier this month. The actual increase in real funding for schools is eight times less than he claimed. >> Read on...

Integrating Immigrant Children in School is an Australian Success Story

Posted on Sunday November 22, 2015

A new OECD report shows Australia’s school system has been highly successful in integrating immigrant children in school. Australia’s success contrasts with that of schools in France and Belgium which have the most alienated immigrant students in the OECD. >> Read on...

The ACT school system: An increasingly stratified, inequitable and dysfunctional schooling system

Posted on Wednesday November 18, 2015

The ACT school system has become increasingly stratified and inequitable according to renowned education researcher Barbara Preston. >> Read on...

Growing Grassroots Movement Rolls Back Testing Overkill

Posted on Tuesday November 17, 2015

A new report details the growing grassroots movement in the United States against standardised testing. >> Read on...

Is the ACT School System Underperforming?

Posted on Monday November 16, 2015

Despite its high average results, the ACT has a low equity school system with large gaps between high and low performing students and between high and low SES students. After nearly 15 years in government, Labor has failed to make a dent in inequity in education. >> Read on...

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