Are independent schools really just for rich kids?

Many real, evidence-based ideas, such as direct instruction, receive little coverage, and there is little discussion of phonics, improving teacher quality, tackling classroom disruption, and greater school and principal autonomy, which I guess is the antithesis of the author's support for a single, monolithic, government-run school system. This book is fighting yesterday's battles.

Perhaps the author should have focussed more on the real issue staring her in the face: just why an increasing number of families, including from lower income levels, continue moving at increasing rates to the non-government sector?

That is the question that any good policy analyst should be asking. There must be something those non-government schools are doing right which public schools and their state government masters might consider adopting.

If you want to unravel Australia's complex school funding arrangements and understand the serious future issues facing education, and how they might be addressed, this is not the place to start. The real battle is not for public education for everyone, but for a quality education system that meets the needs of all.