School funding

Analysis and Comment (32)

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Prime Minister Julia Gillard is promoting her government’s schools funding plan – but should the same model be applied to university funding too? AAP Image/Dan Peled

Should we copy Gonski in higher education funding?

By Conor King, La Trobe University

The Australian Education Bill, introduced to the parliament last week, sets out the government’s Gonski reforms to school funding. One of the reform’s key tenets is that extra money should go to schools…
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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

Battling disadvantage through Gonski: will it work?

By Nicholas Biddle

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…
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The Gillard government’s Gonski reforms have a long way to go before reaching a school near you. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

Budget blowouts and states wrangles: where to now on Gonski?

By Stephen Lamb, University of Melbourne

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…
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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

Explainer: What is a ‘Gonski’ anyway?

By Bronwyn Hinz, University of Melbourne

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…
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The Prime Minister was unable to get agreement with the states on the government’s school funding reforms. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

Beaten but not Gonski: the wait for leadership on schools continues

By Maxine McKew, University of Melbourne

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…
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Should the states sign up the federal government’s proposed school funding reforms? AAP Image/Julian Smith

To sign or not to sign? States' Gonski D-Day approaches

By Richard Teese, University of Melbourne

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…
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Selling the message: there’s a disconnect between what voters want, and what Labor wants out of education. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Why Labor has failed to sell Gonski

By Geoffrey Robinson, Deakin University

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…
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The reforms announced this week to school funding don’t make for a fairer system. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

A fairer Australia? Gonski and Labor’s class war

By David Zyngier, Monash University

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…
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Prime Minister Julia Gillard is trying to get all the states on board to realise her schools funding reform plan. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Gonski package: the government’s big test will be NSW and Victoria

By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

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…
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Funding schools to reduce class size is not a waste of money. Class image from www.shutterstock.com

Class size, Gonski and schools funding: what are the facts?

By David Zyngier, Monash University

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…
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The PM has zoned in on education policy this election year, but maybe education needs less political attention, not more. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

The election crusade? Schools will come second to politics in 2013

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…
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There’s been plenty of attention on NAPLAN testing this week, but ACARA’s Barry McGaw argues there needn’t be. Test image from www.shutterstock.com

NAPLAN myths: it’s not a high-stakes test

By Barry McGaw, University of Melbourne

There has been much controversy this week over a study released by the Whitlam Institute claiming that NAPLAN testing is being treated as a high-stakes program that is causing unnecessary stress among…
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The story about the sacking of a Melbourne private girl’s school principal has made national news, but why? Flickr/mikecogh

The MLC ‘scandal’: who cares, and why?

By Jane Caro, University of Western Sydney

For more than a week, I’ve seen numerous articles about an internal fight between the Board and Principal of Melbourne’s Methodist Ladies' College, a private girls' school. Principal Rosa Storelli has…
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NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli (left) has slashed funding for state schools. AAP/Paul Millar

Class warriors take on poor schools with education cuts

By David Zyngier, Monash University

Our Liberal-run states are locked into a self-made and self-fulfilling prophesy of budgetary crisis. It seems that running a deficit budget which is at the heart of liberal Keynesian economic theory is…
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The government needs to respond to the Gonski report on schools funding and start improving student outcomes. Schools image from www.shutterstock.com

Six steps the government needs to take on Gonski

By Kevin Gould

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…
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The PM should look to her successes in education and build on them by adopting the Gonski recommendations. AAP Image/Julian Smith

Stop playing on schools funding fears and get on with Gonski

By Maxine McKew, University of Melbourne

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…
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Schools funding is back in the headlines, but what’s needed is a wider debate about equality. AAP Image/Paul Miller

Gonski, inequality and schools funding: what the debate needs right now

By Carmen Lawrence, University of Western Australia

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…
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The debate on schools funding has taken a strange turn with both sides racing to increase funding to private schools. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

Gillard and Abbott’s ‘race to the top’ to support private schools

By David Zyngier, Monash University

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…
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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

Gonski but not forgotten: schools don’t just need funding

By Michael Leonard Furtado

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…
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The Gonski report was illogical. Now schools have to work out what to do with it. Foto_di_Signorina

Eight failings of the Gonski review into school funding

By Kevin Gould

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…
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The Gonski review presents a generational opportunity to reform our school funding system. AAP/Graham Porrit

Gonski review: another wasted opportunity

By David Zyngier, Monash University

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…
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David Gonski has conducted the most far-reaching review into school funding in Australia since the Whitlam years. AAP

Gonski review: the aim is worthy, but the implementation will be difficult

By Jack Keating, University of Melbourne

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…
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School funding is under the microscope for the first time in nearly 40 years. torres21

Gonski review: experts respond

By Joel Windle, Monash University; Ian Hay, University of Tasmania; Jim McMorrow; John Halsey, Flinders University, and Kanishka Jayasuriya

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…
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Our academic experts crunch the numbers on school funding. Pink Sherbet Photography

Gonski review: full coverage

By Peter Aubusson, University of Technology, Sydney; Brian Schmidt; David Zyngier, Monash University; Greg Thompson, Murdoch University; Jack Keating, University of Melbourne; Richard Teese, University of Melbourne, and Scott Prasser

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…
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Will Gonski be brave enough to point out what’s wrong with our schooling system? AAP Image/Jenny Evans

Gonksi review: tradition or reform for an upside down system?

By Richard Teese, University of Melbourne

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…
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Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised an education revolution, but where are the results? AAP

Education funding: more dollars than sense

By David Zyngier, Monash University

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…
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Pupils at this charter school appreciate President Obama’s support, but it’s not the only option. Flickr/The White House

Don’t play the market when it comes to children’s education

By Joel Windle, Monash University and Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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…
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The University of New South Wales Chancellor, David Gonksi, is chairing a review into school funding. AAP

The Gonski review: finding a path through the school funding maze

By Jack Keating, University of Melbourne

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…

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