Lobo wrote on Jul 21^st, 2010 at 7:32pm:


The figure given was 50% higher subsidies for public schools.

eg:

private, $100
public $150
(government contribution)

Suppose you have 3 private school students - cost = $300. If you ditch the private subsidy, you save $300. If two of them switch to public, it costs $300. If more than 2/3 (of current private school students) swtich, it actually costs the government more money if they drop the subsidies.

You are correct, Froggie - Longy has got his figures around the wrong way - only about 1/3 of school students in Oz are in the private system...

Many of those students are attending small schools that are unviable - many of which emerged under the bizarre private school funding arrangements of the Howardian Era...

There are some other matters that haven't been touched upon here - notably the fact that: the Federal Govt currently disproportionately funds private schools - such that around 2/3 of Federal School funding goes to the 1/3 of kids in Private schools...

No thanks to the Howard Govt, for using CONSOLIDATED TAXPAYER REVENUE to subsidise the elite few (nor to the Labs who promised in 2007 not to change their obscenely-despicable formula for X number of years)...

As for the claim. that the removal of Govt private school subsidies, would result in as much as 50% or 2/3 of all kids being pulled out of private schools and plopped into the public ones - are you guys serious!?

To that, I say: bollox - because most people who send their kids to private schools do because of strong ideological and/or elitist dispositions...

Many parents (like Tony Abbott) will go into debt to cover Catholic and Steiner school fees - and some parents (and/or grandparents) are prepared to fork out tens of thousands of dollars annually with elite schools, for the privilege of their kids associating and networking with the future corporate, professional and political leaders...

Personally, I doubt that more than 10-25% of people would make the shift - especially knowing that private school fees inflate annually on top of the dramatic increases as kids move into higher grades - and that the proportion of kids in private schools has remained fairly steady...

BTW, are you guys across the actual per capita dollar values going to private v's public school students - do you think that we are talking tens of thousands per child, or a far more modest amount!?

Equitist wrote on Jul 21^st, 2010 at 9:34pm:



it is easier to say what you got RIGHT in your post than you got wrong. most people DONT send their kids to private schools for religious or ideological reasons.  They send them because the private sector provides an undeniably superior education - like it or not.

The best teachers go where the money is.

Show us your stats!

No, I said teachers go where the money is. You made the assertion.
Quote:


Now back your assertion. Or did you just assume because it suits your agenda?

I think we need to look at the funding
Private schools are funded per student by the federal government and a good porportion of them are religious based so therefore get extra money for things like building,wages and maintinance from organisations which are tax exempt, whereas public school students are funded by state governments who get a lump some to cover everything.
Whilst governments can divide the lump sum per student at state schools to make it look good it doesnt take into account everything the money has to stretch to cover.
Private schools as I said can use all the federal money for student needs and get the extra money for the other things I mentioned before.
Also state governments are notorious for syphioning off money from 1 thing to another,to balance their state budgets.