Australian governments spend over $30 billion on
primary and secondary schools each year. It may sound like a lot, but is it
really enough?? In comparison to America, the figure is actually quite low.
A
majority of school funding comes from State governments (77.5 per cent), while
the remainder comes from the Commonwealth (22.5 per cent). (ACT Department
of Education and Training).
Flaws in System
There are many flaws when it comes to distributing
funds to schools. For example, the local community’s social economic
status is not a reflection of an individual student’s SES, specifically in non-
government school. Some students may come from the wealthiest family, yet live
in a disadvantaged area. Barry McGaw stated, there are “relatively advantaged
students from disadvantaged communities carrying with them to a non-government
school a government voucher based on the students they leave behind in their
communities” (2007) (ACT Department of Education and Training).
Secondly, the system does not actually measure a
school’s resources. It completely disregards a school’s capacity to generate
its own income through fees, investments, donations and fundraising in
measuring need. Therefore, the priority schools for government funding may not
be accurate as some school's private income are ignored.
Education Cuts
Moreover, in 2014, Australia's Governments are
intending to reduce educational funds even further. This will impact
Australia’s education drastically, and especially worsens the schools that are
already disadvantaged due to uncontrollable factors. In essence, it will have
detrimental effects on education quality and learning outcomes for all public
school students.
For instance, SSPRA is the fund that
schools use to pay for literacy and numeracy programs; behaviour management,
Aboriginal students needs, English as a Second Language; children with learning
difficulties; the priority country areas program and either distance or other
disadvantage (WACSSO). It is the fund that most schools in Western
Australia access and are reliant on. Unfortunately, it will be cut by 30%.
Additionally, cuts to education funding will cause Halls
Creek District High School to have a $159,918 cut next year (approximately 3%
cut) based on 2013's funding, because of the SSPRA program.
Glebe Public School is one of the most disadvantaged schools
in NSW. It has 29 per cent Aboriginal students and 60 per cent of all students
living in a public housing estate. Glebe Public School runs programs to keep
Aboriginal and disadvantaged students at school. For example, there is an
attendance bus, which picks up students from home as well as an in-class Aboriginal
tutor, which allows the ATSI students to interact and connect with people from
their culture. However, if education cuts continue, it would be impossible to
meet the needs of these highly disadvantaged students.
In my opinion, I believe education funding should not
be cut and should be a priority. Education is the key to the future. Education
funding should be considered as a good investment and should be taken into consideration, as it
would be very beneficial in the long run for everybody.
References
ACT Department of Education and Training. (June 2004). Report on Evaluation of School Based Management. http://www.decs.act.gov.au/ publicat/pdf/sbmevaluationrepor t.pdf. Accessed 24 October 2013
http://www.wacsso.wa.edu.au/newsevents/wa-education-funding-cuts-what-are-they
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