There are many reasons a child could be held back from reaching their learning potential – will extra money help?
Children image from www.shutterstock.com
As the Gonski school funding debate heats up again, the political focus so far has been on the big billion dollar figures. In this crowded debate about who’s right or wrong on the numbers, there’s little…
The Gonski reforms will mean different levels of funding for different schools according to a variety of factors.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
In an attempt to pressure state leaders on schools funding reform, prime minister Julia Gillard revealed new data showing the difference her package would make at the national and state level. The June…
We’re understanding more about how the school funding reform will work, but there is one important question that goes unanswered.
Money image from www.shutterstock.com
Last night’s federal budget had few big spending items, but one standout area was the A$9.8 billion school funding reform.
With most states still yet to sign on to the package, the budget papers reveal…
Looming cuts to expenditure and probable tax increases mean there will inevitably be winners and losers. But just how should these be chosen?
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
The government is facing two options to tackle its budget deficit: significant cuts in government expenditures or increasing taxes to close the gap with spending.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already…
The Gillard government’s Gonski reforms have a long way to go before reaching a school near you.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Last week NSW signed up to the Gillard government’s proposed changes to school funding – a deal that would see a new funding model based on the Gonski review and an injection of A$5 billion into NSW schools…
There are no short-term fixes to the long-term issues surrounding education in Australia.
shutterstock
Everyone, it seems, has a “fix” for education. The government has staked improvement on extra funding while others say a higher bar for teaching graduates is needed, and some view the prestige of the profession…
Schools funding has been a hot topic this week: here’s all you need to know on this important election issue.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
This week you might have heard the word “Gonski” even more than usual.
That’s because the Gillard government finally announced how it would pay for its school funding reform in the lead up to its meeting…
The Prime Minister was unable to get agreement with the states on the government’s school funding reforms.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The A$14 billion federal government proposal based on David Gonski’s call for a better school funding system has not been agreed to at this week’s COAG meeting. In fact, none of the states and territories…
Should the states sign up the federal government’s proposed school funding reforms?
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Australian heads of government will gather in Canberra tomorrow to deliberate on the Commonwealth’s proposals for school funding reform.
At the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, the government…
Selling the message: there’s a disconnect between what voters want, and what Labor wants out of education.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
On Sunday the federal Labor government announced reforms to school funding, that aimed to finally put in place the recommendations of the Gonski review.
The proposed reforms – worth A$14.5 billion – are…
The reforms announced this week to school funding don’t make for a fairer system.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s announcement yesterday about a new school funding and resource standard does not deliver on Gonski’s promise.
Gillard said that the plan would mean “better resourcing and…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is trying to get all the states on board to realise her schools funding reform plan.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The Gillard government has two immediate problems with the politics of its A$14.5 billion education funding plan.
First, and most seriously, the six-year blueprint, which requires the states to pay one…
Tertiary education minister Craig Emerson yesterday announced significant changes to higher education funding.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Anyone believing new tertiary education minister Craig Emerson was just minding the higher education shop until the election has been proved wrong by this weekend’s announcement of funding cuts.
About…
Tertiary education minister Craig Emerson has outlined heavy cuts for the higher sector to help pay for the Gonski school reforms.
AAP image/Alan Porritt
The higher education sector is to take heavy budget cuts to help pay for the government’s Gonski school funding plan, a key measure in Julia Gillard’s bid for re-election.
About A$2.3 billion will be…
The Gonski recommendations on schools funding is no longer a political fight – it’s a moral one.
School children image from www.shutterstock.com
In the lead up to negotiations with the states on schools funding reform, the government has armed itself by labelling the reforms as a moral issue.
It’s easy, of course, for a politician to bring an…
Funding schools to reduce class size is not a waste of money.
Class image from www.shutterstock.com
The Gonski reforms to school funding are front and centre in this election year. But despite their prominence, much of the plan – including who will pay – is yet to be decided.
But while we watch what…
The PM has zoned in on education policy this election year, but maybe education needs less political attention, not more.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
By Adam Smith, Australian Council for Educational Research
Today, as part of an Australian Education Union (AEU) campaign, academics, business and political leaders have signed a letter urging state and federal governments to move on the Gonski reforms to school…
New reports show Australian education is slipping, but what can be done about it?
Education image from www.shutterstock.com
The results of international literacy, numeracy and science tests released this week should be cause for alarm.
In what the minister for education Peter Garrett called “disappointing” results, the Progress…
Warnings of a drop in Australia’s real GDP per capita – a measure of living standards – still provide a stark contrast to Greece, where the real GDP per capita is likely to be 25% lower in 2013 than in 2008.
AAP
Last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in a preliminary version of its 2012 Economic Outlook lowered its growth forecasts for Australia from 3.7% to 3.0% in 2013…
New legislation introduced in parliament today marks the beginning of reform of schools funding.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Today the Australia Education Bill – the legislation following on from the Gonski review into school funding – was introduced into parliament.
In September this year, the government responded to the review…
Looking to Asian schools is exactly what we shouldn’t be doing.
Chalkboard image www.shutterstock.com
It was fun while it lasted Finland, but we’re going cold on you. We thought your schools had the secret but our new infatuation is with Asian school systems.
The Prime Minister seems to agree. The government…
State governments are looking at changing the way they deliver education.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
At a time when the Commonwealth sponsored Gonski Review of School Funding is recommending an increase of $5 billion a year plus for schools around Australia, it may seem odd that some state governments…
The government can’t wait any longer, it needs to make changes now to improve Indigenous education.
Aboriginal Art image www.shutterstock.com
In all the discussion, media releases, press conferences and TV coverage of this week’s government response to the Gonski review, it was fascinating that the issue of Indigenous education rated such little…
We’ve had the big announcement on schools funding, but now comes the political reality.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The battle over the future of Australia’s school funding arrangements has started in
earnest. Outlining the government’s response to the landmark Gonski Review, Prime Minister Gillard spoke of a national…
Should children be exposed to religion in school?
www.shutterstock.com
In the small print in my Qantas in flight magazine I noticed that Qantas is now raising money for Mission Australia.
Mission Australia runs a number of useful and worthwhile programs for the disadvantaged…
The Gillard response to the Gonski review was a disappointment and could have been much more.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced the government will introduce some of the recommendations of the Gonski Review, including a new model for funding schools.
Many commentators criticised the announcement…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaking at the National Press Club yesterday signalled serious changes to the states' role in education.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
After the government’s response to the Gonski report on schools funding, it’s worth looking at not only what was in the announcement but what wasn’t.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered no indication…
The Gonski response: increased funding will be tied to concrete improvement in all schools.
AAP
Increased funding will be tied to concrete improvements in all schools under the government’s National Plan for School Improvement, announced on Monday in response to the Gonski Review.
The government…
The PM’s response today was lacking the real boost needed for schools funding now.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The government has finally delivered its policy response to the Gonski report, including sweeping changes to how schools are funded and new benchmarks that aim to see Australian schools ranked in the world…
The government will boost schools funding today, but what’s next?
Classroom image from www.shutterstock.com
Today the Prime Minister will announce the government’s full policy response on schools funding, following the Gonski report earlier this year.
The Gonski report recommended a funding boost across the…
Both political parties are lining up their elections strategies now, even though an election could still be a year away.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The former British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson famously said a week is a long time in politics. If this is the case, then you have to wonder how long it will feel if the current Parliament runs it full…
The debate around teacher quality should be informed by research, not hunches and misinformation.
Teacher image from www.shutterstock.com
All we seem to hear about these days is failing teachers in failing schools. Those from business, government and the field of economics have all weighed in, criticising teachers, teacher educators and…
The government needs to respond to the Gonski report on schools funding and start improving student outcomes.
Schools image from www.shutterstock.com
It’s been six long months since the Gonski panel made its recommendations on schools funding, but in the next few weeks the federal government will finally respond and release the details of its school…
The PM should look to her successes in education and build on them by adopting the Gonski recommendations.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Howʼs this for a radical thought to start the week – a robust contest of ideas around how
we educate Australian students to an internationally competitive standard.
Too quixotic?
Perhaps, but it would…
Schools funding is back in the headlines, but what’s needed is a wider debate about equality.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
Imagine a field of wheat which has been watered unequally. Some parts will grow to their potential, but some won’t. In the end, it’s bad for the whole field’s productivity.
Economist James Galbraith’s…
The debate on schools funding has taken a strange turn with both sides racing to increase funding to private schools.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
In a political echo of the unseemly bi-partisan “race to the bottom” over asylum seekers, we now have a “race to the top” with the prime minister and opposition leader vying to offer the most support to…
The government needs to do the maths on school funding and look at which schools need money most.
Schools image from www.shutterstock.com
In the lead up to the government’s response to the Gonski reforms, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised no school will lose funding under the new arrangements.
In fact, “every independent school…
David Gonski’s review is starting to fade into the background, but there are a growing number of calls to implement the review’s recommendations.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The last time school funding occupied so much public and political attention was during the Whitlam years.
Policy makers with long memories will recall that the gestation period for the Karmel report…
The Gonski report was illogical. Now schools have to work out what to do with it.
Foto_di_Signorina
Last month’s review into school funding by esteemed businessman David Gonski was released with much fanfare. But as the dust settles, it is increasingly clear that the report is, overall, a disappointment…
The Gonski review presents a generational opportunity to reform our school funding system.
AAP/Graham Porrit
The Gonski Review sought to create a new funding system for Australian schooling, because what we currently have is a mess. It was to be transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting…
David Gonski has conducted the most far-reaching review into school funding in Australia since the Whitlam years.
AAP
School funding has been a tortured issue for government, and especially federal Labor governments, for most of the past half century.
Since the seminal Karmel Report of 1973, the funding levels and relativities…
While the wheels of bureaucracy turn, schools wait for more funding.
Andreas Ebling
A two-year process of research, consultation, public input and expert consideration and analysis is a reasonable route to follow for a government-appointed independent inquiry into a major policy issue…
School funding is under the microscope for the first time in nearly 40 years.
torres21
A much-anticipated review of Australian school funding, spearheaded by businessman David Gonski, was handed to the Gillard government today.
We asked Australian education experts to respond to the report…
Our academic experts crunch the numbers on school funding.
Pink Sherbet Photography
The biggest review of school funding in decades has been handed to the government. The report recommends an injection of A$5 billion to the education sector, three-quarters of which would go to public…
Western Australia may have mining wealth, but how do we fund schools in remote areas?
AAP/Rebecca Le May
At first glance, the Gonski review presents an opportunity to correct the funding gap between “winners” (understood as the private schools) and “losers” (understood as the public schools).
And it is timely…
The Gonski review on school funding is made public on Monday. But how does the division of resources between the government, independent and Catholic sectors affect how students learn in the practical…
Handing out marks is usually for teachers, now the whole school system is under review.
AAP/Stefan Postles
Australia’s educational system must be one of the most over-reviewed in the OECD.
Hundreds of Select Committees – Federal and State, Upper and Lower House in the past 20 years have reviewed teacher quality…
Will Gonski be brave enough to point out what’s wrong with our schooling system?
AAP Image/Jenny Evans
The Gonski review of school funding promises to be a watershed in the history of Australian education. Much is at stake. There is a real chance to fundamentally change the way our divided school system…
The government’s merry dance may come to nothing.
AAP/Joe Castro
When an Australian government is willing to risk losing an election over the way it funds our poorest, most disadvantaged schools, rather than our wealthy schools, only then will meaningful change be possible…
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised an education revolution, but where are the results?
AAP
All is not well in the Australian school system.
Australian schools are struggling to meet the achievement levels of OECD leader Finland.
With the release of the commissioned research reports for the…
Some parents send their children to a religious school, but others struggle to choose.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Australia has an unusually high proportion of children enrolled in non-government schools, when compared to similar nations. This dates back to the struggles between colonial governments and Catholic bishops…
Pupils at this charter school appreciate President Obama’s support, but it’s not the only option.
Flickr/The White House
Education policy in the United States is paved with some glaring failures. Despite this, many Australian reformers are looking west for inspiration, as the Gonski review of education funding is carried…
The University of New South Wales Chancellor, David Gonksi, is chairing a review into school funding.
AAP
As a five member panel headed by noted business figure and University of NSW chancellor David Gonski reaches the final stages of its review into the structure of school funding in Australia, lobbying by…
