With all her calls against the waste of public money, Jane Caro, conveniently neglects the sound economic reason for subsidising private education. Considering the federal grants, the state grants and other capital investment, a private school place costs the government in the region of 80% of the cost of a public school place.

The move to private schools has meant that these has actually been more money for public schools, and that there has not been a need for massive expenditure by the state on purchasing land and building more schools.

Even within the Labor government camp, this populist agenda is recognised to be founded solely on rhetoric rather than reality.

Jane also neglects to mention where her two daughters are educated and why.

Shadow Minister in first with an empty comment along Party lines.

As far as I can recall, having heard Caro on ABC radio from time to time talking about her book, her children attend/ed public schools in NSW.

Which one I have no idea, but 'public' anyway.

I dispute the 'subsidy' claims of SM here, where public schools are better off with private schools getting more than the entire university funding in the nation, and frankly, there is little point in descending into a 'is-isn't' debate here with SM and ilk... I accept that SM must believe this, and that s/he will not alter on this matter. So be it.

But an interesting area of 'education waste' that Caro fails to mention is that of the NSCP scheme.

Here is a new angle on it by Dr. Leslie Cannold, worth a read if you are wondering why Gillard would ever support unqualified, unprofessional 'support' for those suffering with 'mental issues' in schools:

http://www.cannold.com/media/2010-08-15-the-national-school-chaplaincy-program-is-an-accident-waiting-to-happen/

Here is a comment from an online punter on the 'value' our hundreds of millions of ATO funds buy:

"Chaplain is a fanciful name given to an odd person with low employment prospects that works (probably for minimal wages) for a non tax-paying company. These companies lobby politicians to fund these creeps without disclosing that they are really looking for cracks in these young people at a critical time of change in their lives. Once hooked, they can bleed them of money for a lifetime on the promise of life after death. Great business plan!" from CircusMaximus - August 15, 2010, 9:40PM on:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/god-botherers-infiltrate-brisbane-high-school-20100814-123qz.html#pol

Well said Jane - hardly a point on which any rational person would disagree. No doubt we will soon be hearing from Sells, Runner et al.
The flow of wealth to the private school sector to the detriment of the public school sector is in my view the biggest social problem faced by this country today - far outwighing the problems caused by the miniscule numbers of desperate boat people. We are heading towards a theocracy, run by the likes of Pell and Jensen, and financed by our own ridiculous taxation structure. The imposition of a faith based education on our youngest and most intellectually vulnerable children is a form of invidious child abuse, whilst the countless millions of dollars in public revenue lost at all levels of government to the church 'charity' taxation avoidance industry is an abomination to all rational thinking persons.

I have to agree with Blue Cross. For government waste and cynical pork-barreling, it's hard to beat the nearly half a billion of tax-payers' funds spent, or committed, to the National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP).

The Australian Psychological Society has branded the NSCP 'dangerous'. The Effectiveness of Chaplaincy Report (2009),reveals that chaplains have been called in to help with children’s anger issues, grief and loss, bullying, peer pressure and self esteem as well as self harm and suicide. And yet only 2.5% of chaplains have qualifications in counselling or psychology.

The NSW Teachers Federation has told the government that what schools need is not chaplains but an enhancement of professional school counselling services. (Currently the school counsellor to student ratio stands at about 1:1000 in NSW schools - worse in some other states).

The Parents and Citizens Council says: ”Funding has not been available in another form that they [schools] could use so they have had to turn to chaplains. … We have received complaints from families that schools are having to rely on chaplains to meet the social and emotional needs of the students. In government schools there is a feeling that this should be delivered by secularly trained people.”

And yet, where has the government committed a further $222 million? To untrained, unqualified, evangelistic school chaplains with a religious agenda.

This is not just a secular issue, it is a mental health issue and I don't understand why there is not a national outcry about the fact that both sides of government are short-changing our children for the sake of economy and in order to buy off the right-wing Christian vote. It is nothing short of despicable.

TBC and Gym Fish

"Commonwealth funding per student for private schools increased steadily in real terms from 1974. State and Territory governments also continued to subsidise private schools after 1974, providing about one-third of the total subsidy from both levels of government (ie. the average State grant per student is around half the Commonwealth rate). State and Territory grants generally increased in line with Commonwealth subsidies (Watson 1998).

From 2005, the Catholic system has been incorporated into the SES funding scheme with over 40 per cent of its schools having their funding maintained at SES 96, which is 56.25 per cent of Average Government School Recurrent Costs (AGSRC)."

While the percentage has increased, the cost to the state per private pupil is significantly less than per public pupil.

http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/pdf/DP479.pdf

My "belief" is founded on unbiased detailed studies, Jane's and others' (yours too) is founded on what? Can you support your position on anything other than a reference to left wing diatribe? I think not.

No amount of funding will ever help a totally flawed system based on rotten theology. It time the secularist woke up to that fact and stop making excuses for their massive failure. The hatred and envy shown by those pushing there dogmas is amazing. Shadow Minister really sums up their hypocrisy.

'Jane also neglects to mention where her two daughters are educated and why.'