Why would you give a Gonski?

In the wake of the Gonski review into school funding models there has been a wealth of debate as to the acceptability of the review's findings. These have ranged from the Teachers Federation who want the full funding model implemented ASAP to the shadow education minister, Christopher Pyne, who disagrees with the current pedagogy of our schooling systems and doesn't believe there is money to fund the recommendations even if he believed in them. What the Gonski review and these responses to it have failed to adress is the economical reality of school funding.

For the year 2009 in NSW 66% of the 1.1million full time primary and secondary students were enrolled in government schools; 726 000 students. In the same year "NSW spent $12,540 per full-time primary student in the classroom." This works out at $9,104,040,000 (a little over $9.1Billion). Compare this to the costs to the public purse for independent schools where "in 2009-10 government expenditure per student in independent schools was in the order of $6,450". With only 34% of the 1.1million full time students indepented schools in NSW teach 374 000 students. At $6450 a head this works out to be $2,412,230,000 (a little over $2.4Billion).

What should be clear from these figures is that, considering the same syllabus applies to all schools and performance is generally even across the sector, the government gets far better for its money from independent schools than government ones.The Gonski review and its supporters suggests that private schools should recieve less funding from the government determined by means testing the parents of students who attend. This policy is clearly counter productive. By reducing funding to independent schools it will necessarily increase their fees. The result of this increase will push more students out of independent schools and back into the public education system. This will be an economic disaster.

At double the cost of an independent student the public system is not well placed to accept an increase in student enrollments. What does make sense is for government to increase its spending to independent schools which will encourage more middle and lower-middle class parents (those termed "aspirational" by politicians and bureaucracy) to enrol their students in independent schools. Even were this to cause a 33% increase in the per-student cost in independent schools those students who moved from public to private end up providing a net gain for government in terms of actual savings. 

Unfortunately and much to the detriment of education in this country there is a strong antipathy to independent schools and so studies aimed at showing the numbers of students who would move to private education were fees lower have not been forthcoming. Without such studies it is impossible to quantify those parents who would enrol their students in independent institutions, however I do not believe that with an increase of funding to independent schools to the tune of 20% per student that a base estimate of an additional 10% of the student population moving from public to independent schools is unreasonable. Compare, then, the current funding and the assessed funding outcome of this estimate.

Current Funding

Government Schools: $9,104,040,000 @$12,540 per student

Independent Schools: $2,421,230,000 @$6,450 per student

Total Cost: $11,525,270,000

Estimated Funding Government Schools: $7,724,640,000 @$12,540 per student

Independent Schools: $3,746,160,000 @$7,740 per student

Total Cost: $11,470,800,000

Assuming the cost-to-enrollment increases are in the ballpark (which I admit to grossly over-estimating as I believe that it is possible to achieve an increase of 10% enrolment in independent schools for far less than a 20% increase in per-child funding) we would see a yearly savings of $50million in education in NSW. To break-even this could then be put directly back into public schools, targeting those most in need and increasing the per-student spending in the most disadvantaged areas. This targeted increase would then also go further as there are 100 000 students less to spread it over. Public schools then can be focused on providing the best possible education with smaller class sizes (due to fewer enrolments) and an increase in per-student funding, all without adding aditional costs to the education budget

This model makes a mockery of the Gonski review calls for an increase of $5Billion in public education funding at the expense of private institutions. The only possible rationale for seeking to reduce funding to independent schools is if you have an ideological prejudice against them. It is this ideological prejudice that is in actual fact at play. The NSW Department of Education and Communities, henceforth referred to as DEC (formerly Education and Training - DET) is heavily populated by members of the NSW Teachers Federation; this union states as its first two ethical standards:

1. Teachers and other educational personnel employed in any area of public education should be members of the New South Wales Teachers Federation and uphold Federation's policy.

2. Members should aim to improve the working conditions of all Federation members.

As you can see it is the goal of this union to have all personnel employed in any area of public education to be members of the union, that include maintenance and support staff as well as educators. It is then upon all members of the union to improve the working conditions (historically this means renumeration) for all other members. Independent schools, however, are not beholden to the Teachers Federation. Their principals have far greater autonomy to hire and fire staff and to seek the most economical option for maintenance and support. The opposition to independent schools is not one of economics but rather one of ideology. If independent schools were to have a higher proportion of students enrolled at them then the Teachers Federation would have absolute power over fewer schools to ensure that only union affiliated people could be employed at them. The Gonski review is a pro-union, anti-independent article which seeks to increase public sector expendature at the expense of sane economics and if implemented will lower the educational outcomes for all students in public education.