Australia is facing an inexorable rise in spending on schools that far exceeds expected growth in GDP and growth in student numbers, yet will do little to improve student performance, finds a new TARGET30 report from The Centre for Independent Studies.
With total government spending on primary and secondary education equalling $47 billion in 2012-13, and projected to double by 2025 if spending is not curtailed, governments should look to the most effective ways of funding education.
‘Every dollar in the education system that is wasted is a dollar that could have been spent on providing support to a student with learning difficulties or helping a child learn to read,’ says Dr Jennifer Buckingham, author of School Funding on a Budget.
‘It is a myth that simply increasing funding to schools results in improved student performance. Nine years of PISA testing have shown no concurrent changes in mean scores, despite increases in spending.’
‘Rather than rely on funding increases to deliver improvements in educational quality, we should instead focus on ensuring the money is spent in the most effective ways.’
Among Dr Buckingham’s recommendations is removing one of the least effective educational reforms – mandatory class size maximums, to slightly increase student: teacher ratios and save the Australian government $891 million each year.
Over $100 million could be saved each year by abolishing the federal Department of Education and its 1,000 staff, who have no responsibility for schools or teachers.
Dr Buckingham further recommends implementing bursaries to encourage low-income students to attend non-government schools, which receive $8,546 of government funds on average per student, compared to the $15,768 it costs the government to educate a student in a government school.
‘Even a small minority of low-income students taking up the bursary and moving from public schools to non-government schools would save $500 million a year,’ says Dr Buckingham.
‘At the other end of the spectrum are many students from high-income families attending public schools and not having to pay a cent. Even a minimal charge of $1,000 on these students, with a proportional reduction in government funding, would save $250 million a year.’
‘It’s time ensure our children receive the highest-quality teaching possible. Increasing the ATAR score for teacher education courses to 70 would elevate the quality of candidates, and giving principals the power to make hiring and firing decisions for teachers in their schools would improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching,’ says Dr Buckingham.
Eight tips:
1. Revise federal government funding model
2. Abolish the federal Department of Education
3. Reduce the cost of state and territory bureaucracy
4. Remove mandatory class sizes and eschew class-size reduction policies
5. Provide bursaries for low-income students to use at non-government schools
6. Charge high-income families to attend government schools
7. Reduce the oversupply of teachers by elevating entry standards to teaching degrees
8. Decentralise teacher employment and make it easier for principals to dismiss ineffective teachers.
Dr Jennifer Buckingham is a research fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies. She is available for comment.
Access the report: School Funding on a Budget.
Read the Snapshot.
Media Enquiries: Aimee Cornelius
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