David Jennings,
Where does the data come from?

As an aware academic, I thought you would already know.

International Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL)

http://nces.ed.gov/Surveys/ALL/issuebrief.asp

The Australian education system has not shown any signs of improvement in any area for many years.

You may also find this press release quite interesting: -

http://www.tasmaniatogether.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/77671/2009_05_21_Adult_Literacy_-_Small_Business_Council.pdf

Australia has a 99% adult literacy rate.

The survey you cited does not include Australia. But Australia took part in the 2006 ALLS survey.

At any rate even if Level 1 is "the lowest measured level of literacy" then 99% of the seven million people sampled met the standard of basic literacy.

I struggle to see how a press release from the Business Council of Tasmania adds any weight to your argument.

There is a more obvious flaw in your argument, in that the percentage of Australians who actually go to university isn't that high. So you can't really use the ALLS survey to discredit the universities.

Given that literacy is also developed at home its a bit of leap to blame schools entirely for the fact that some kids are not at the Level 3 standard.

At any rate the ABS suggests a slight improvement in the 2006 survey from the 1996 Survey.
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4228.0Main%20Features22006%20(Reissue)?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4228.0&issue=2006%20(Reissue)&num=&view=

Its not much use having a discussion on differences in wages and salaries if a UNSW Law graduate cannot understand simple 4th grade concepts of mean(average) and median(the 50% percentile figure). As an example

"The median wage is $57,000 last time I checked on ABS. So a teacher with ten years experience isn't esrning much relative to their skills.
Posted by Lucy Montgomery, Tuesday, 9 March 2010 11:04:23 PM"

No Lucy, that is the mean (average) figure. Check the ABS website again. The figure for median is closer to 40K.

As Lucy said earlier
"For the record, I'm smarter than you, I'm better educated and since I'm guessing that you were fibbing about being a doctor, I think its fair to say I'm better off."
and
"Now when I did law at UNSW in the 1990's the tertiary entrance rank for school leavers was well into the 90's. From memory the cut-off was 98.7 and I scored 99.2. I hope that doesn't make you feel small or inadequate".

How could you possibly score 99.2 in the HSC and not know the difference between mean and median. I won't make you even further confused by mentioning mode.

Well as a graduate of UNSW Law school (the lowest entry mark law school in NSW in the 90s) that probably qualifies you to gain automatic entry to 4th grade maths class

Ozzie your obsession with Lucy is both creepy and disturbing. Why do you have such an issue with somebody that you will continue to chase them from thread to thread? I think I've asked you this before, but is it the fact that she's intelligent, educated, FEMALE, and probably earning more than you, the reason why you keep doing this?

Get over it mate. You are giving the male gender a bad name.

David,
You think she is intelligent, however you are just an idiot, leftist politically correct academic who can't make it in the real world. Your opinion earlier that the term "Medical practitioner included general hospital workers" puts you in the same class as Lucy, and gives little credit to anything else you say.
As I stated above, a 4th grader knows the difference between median and mean, and a 6th grader knows what a Medical Practitioner is.

Get over it mate. You give evolution a bad name.

Dear vanna

I note your reference to lawyers and real estate agents.

Although many agents are sharks, many are hard working and put in countless hours in many areas, including inspections, marketing and negotiating, all of which are 'un-paid' until the contract settles.

Often they sell something only to see the buyers being unable to obtain finance or the seller not disclosing everything and the contract crashes.

Would you work for 8/10ths of your week without pay? They often do!

Lawyers.
The majority work hard at school. They then attend uni and, while most of us are out enjoying a 'social life', they are often studying to better themselves, in the hope that one day they will be able to earn what most of us see as 'huge money', but it is not without sacrafice.

Remember, we are all presented with that same opportunity.

Now as for being paid for what you produce, a smart head will always out perform a good set of hands.

In any case, you will struggle to find support for your theory.