Misguided Gonski model threatens the quality of schooling

THE campaign against funding non-government schools, orchestrated by the Australian Education Union and fellow travellers such as Jane Caro and Chris Bonnor, the authors of The Stupid Country , is in full swing.

In a full-page advertisement last week, endorsed by ex-Labor and cultural Left luminaries, the AEU argued the Gonski report's recommendations were fair and the best way to raise standards. In reality the Gonski report discriminates against non-government schools. Funding will be based on "the anticipated capacity of the parents enrolling their children in the school to contribute financially" and non-government schools will be made to contribute "at least 10 per cent" to the base level of per student funding received from government.

Yet government schools serving wealthy communities will face no such impost. That's no surprise. Gonski review member Ken Boston argues the existing socioeconomic status funding model privileges "neo-Darwinian free-market forces" and non-government schools serve only "an exclusive clientele identified by SES, religion, ethnicity and some other dimension".

Another review member, Carmen Lawrence, argues the SES model finances the "wealthiest schools at the expense of government schools".

In fact, wealthier non-government schools receive only 13.7 per cent of the recurrent cost of educating a student in a government school and non-government schools save governments about $6 billion a year.

David Gonski, who chaired the review, demonstrated his sympathy for the AEU's campaign in a 2011 speech he gave at the union's annual conference. Agreeing that any new funding model must address the equity issue, code for redirecting funding from so-called privileged non-government schools to disadvantaged government schools, he lamented the fact so many parents were choosing independent and Catholic schools. Instead of endorsing school choice, Gonski argued: "We need to continue to build a strong public school system and investigate and understand the cause and effects of the enrolment shift from government to non-government schools."

While critics portray non-government schools as awash with funds, the strongest area of growth has been low-fee-paying schools charging $3000 to $6000 a year. Enrolments in non-government schools have surged because they achieve better Year 12 results, tertiary entry and completion rates. Critics argue that is because they enrol privileged students. But research shows socioeconomic background accounts for only 9 per cent to 16 per cent of the variance in the results. More important factors are innate ability, school environment, teacher effectiveness, curriculum quality and whether parents value education.

The AEU argues that adopting the Gonski recommendations, adding $6.5bn a year in recurrent funding, will help Australian students rank among the top five nations in international tests by 2025. In fact there is little, if any, correlation between spending and educational outcomes. The most effective way to improve results is to embrace competition, autonomy and choice, characteristics associated with non-government schools and threatened if the government adopts the Gonski report's recommendations.

Kevin Donnelly is director of the Education Standards Institute and taught for 18 years in government and non-government schools.