Yet another educational opinion

[Shaun Hately]

I've been reading these posts with interest, but haven't had time to post until now. But I 
thought I would weigh in with my personal opinion on one basic issue, just for interests 
sake. I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me - and this is just my opinion.

My perspective is different from that of most posters, because I'm not in the US, and the 
education system in Australia is not identical to any US system - of course, like the US, 
we have a range of systems and because both countries have a range of systems, there 
are often overlaps.

I take a keen interest in educational issues, both here in Australia, and overseas 
including the US. Particularly the US, because things that occur in education there often 
come up over here. I read a lot of educational material from the US - now reading isn't 
everything, but I do have some information.

And I am very interested in improving education - how interested? Well, the reason I 
haven't had much time to post in recent days is because I started my Bachelor of 
Education degree at the start of last week. I'm going to become a teacher. To do this, 
I've given up a six figure income in a job I quite enjoy - I'm that serious about trying to 
improve kids lives and their education.

My educational experience as a child. Mixed. Very mixed. I attended eight different 
schools including the state run primary school with the worst academic standards in my 
state, in a relatively poor area, right up to one of the country's oldest and most 
prestigious private schools - and a bunch in between. State, Catholic, and Independent 
schools.

That's just a bit of background. Now - my personal opinions.

Vouchers. My opinion on these is very divided. I support private schools having access 
to fairly substantial public money - but I don't believe a voucher system is the most 
effective way of handling this. I think the way things are done in Australia works very 
well, and I do think the US education system might benefit greatly by a similar system, 
introduced gradually. 

What happens here is that state schools are the responsibility of the various states - 
and so the vast majority of state funding goes to state schools (private schools get a 
small amount because the state government decides to fund anti-drug/alcohol education 
programs etc/ for all kids). The Federal government (which is not obliged to fund 
education at all) chooses to provide extra resources for schools and a substantial 
amount of that funding goes to private schools.

Overall, state run schools which cater for around 70% of students, receive around 85% 
of all government funds. Private schools, catering for around 30% of students, receive 
about 15% of government funding. Put simply, the amount of taxpayer money private 
school students have spent on their education is significant - but still only around a third 
of that a state school students has spent on theirs.

Limited government funding for private schools is an accepted part of all major parties 
policies - including that of the mildly socialist Labor party. The parties disagree on 
precise numbers, and on precise distribution of the money but all support the basic 
principle.

Why does the left support this policy even though logically it should go against it's 
fundamental principles? Same reason why the right wing parties in Australia generally 
support universal health care despite ideological differences.

Because experience shows it *works*.

And if it works here, it could work in the US - no guarantees, of course, because the 
situations are not identical. But the fact it works in another western democracy, one with 
a lot of similarities to the US suggests it's worth looking at.

What do I mean by it works?

Simply put, limited funding to private schools in Australia has been good for those 
students (and their families) at private schools *and* for those students at state schools.

The case for private school students is simple - it's meant that school fees have either 
been lower or the money has gone further.

The case for state school students is a bit more complex. But put simply, everytime a 
child moves from the state system to the private system, more money becomes available 
for every child in the state system.

Why? I'll give a very simple demonstration. These numbers are representative of the 
theory, not correct and current numbers.

Take a state school with 100 students and an educational budget of $500,000

Average money available to each student is $5,000.

The system changes so students in private schools get $2,000 per student - and as a 
result of these changes some students from the state school now move across to the 
private system.

If five move, that's $10,000 of taxpayer's money.

You now have a state school with 90 students and a budget of $490,000 - or $5,444 
each.

The point is that giving some funding to private schools can actually be of real benefit to 
every child in the state system as well.

It's not automatic, and a lot of care needs to be taken to ensure it works out properly 
(which is the reason I said it should be a gradual process. But it *can* be done.

Transferring some funding to the private sector does *not* have to be at the expense of 
students in state funded schools. Australia has made this work - the US could do so as 
well.

Now - are there benefits to such a system?

IMHO, very real benefits - and let me use myself as an example. This is totally 
anecdotal, of course - but frankly, it's my view that in considering education every effort 
should be made to consider ever individual child as much as possible - and that means 
anecdotal stories can be illuminating.

When I was 12, I endured a year of hell at school Absolute, unadulterated hell. By 
August (school year here runs roughly from late January to early December) I was in 
dire straits. For a variety of reasons, I wound up seeing a psychologist and in 
September he gave my parents a very simple prognosis. I had to change schools - or I 
would have died. Further, he could suggest only three schools in my entire state where I 
had any hope of getting the education I required. All three, very expensive private 
schools.

My dad was a security guard at the time - he earned an OK wage - but nothing special. 
Basically, by sacrificing everything possible, my parents could just scrape together the 
money needed to send me to one of those schools. If those schools had not received 
the limited Federal funding they did, they would have been out of reach. And that would 
have been extremely bad.

What my case indicates is the reason why I support such funding - because it opens 
educational choice to more people than would otherwise have it. And I think educational 
choice is a good thing.

And under the system we have here - when kids leave for the private sector, the state 
sector winds up with more money per child. Consider what that means. If state schools 
are doing poorly, people for whom limited government funding have made private 
schools more accessible, are more likely to move into the private sector - reducing 
pressure on the state schools, and giving them more resources per child to try and fix 
the reasons they are doing poorly.

We've had this system in place now for around 25 years. 25 years ago, there was 
around a twenty five percent difference in academic achievement levels between the 
average state school and the average private school. Today, that difference is less than 
10%. It's a gradual process - but it's one that has worked.

Our system isn't perfect, by any means - if I thought it was, I wouldn't be throwing away 
another career to become a teacher. But it's actually not too bad.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200

                       "Almighty Ruler of the all;
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