NEW DIRECTIONS IN SCHOOLS FUNDING
New directions for schools funding are needed in Australia.
The quality of Australian schools is relatively high on the range of criteria that inform international comparisons. But too many young people are still missing out on the full benefits of schooling, are disengaged from learning, leaving school prematurely and poorly prepared for adult life.
The causes of this persisting problem go well beyond schools funding; but current funding arrangements are helping to entrench rather than to overcome these problems. There is no rational link between the amount invested publicly in all our schools and the work we expect of them. The teaching workload is shared unevenly among schools and sectors; and the effects are exacerbated rather than being counterbalanced by schools funding policies.
