The Productivity Commission’s latest report on Australian schooling results offers yet another failing mark accompanying the return to school. Not that the commission says this outright, of course.

But amid the welter of acronyms and agreements and initiatives, the bottom line is that school education remains a lottery for too many students. There may be more winners than losers, but there’s still an unacceptably high level of chance or luck, good and bad, despite all the funding increases and grand statements of intent and “reforms”.