Make education fairer by stripping elite schools of public funding
As long as the state and federal governments continue to hand over $200 million a year to NSW’s 79 wealthiest private schools, the gap between rich and poor will continue to grow, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. (’Gap between poor and rich schools growing‘, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 October 2011, page 3)
Dr Kaye said: “It is time to get serious about educational disadvantage.
“It is grotesquely unfair to continue subsidising elite private institutions like Kings to the tune of $4,500 per student each year while disadvantaged schools struggle to overcome the effects of poverty on educational outcomes.
“Stripping NSW’s 79 wealthiest private schools of their $200 million a year taxpayer-funded gift would pay for an additional 3.7 educational professionals at each of the state’s 581 most disadvantaged public schools.
“While NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli is attempting to shift the blame onto teachers, the fault is his and his federal colleagues’.
“At the stroke of a pen they could begin to reduce the growing gap by boosting the educational support at the public schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.
“Blaming the quality of teachers is yet one more insult to the dedicated professionals who struggle to do the best for their students, despite the woefully inadequate resources provided by the state and federal governments.
“Adrian Piccoli should abandon teacher-bashing and instead get the money to the schools that really need it,” Dr Kaye said.
