Johnj
I disagree somewhat.

If by disabilities you mean physical or mental disabilities such as severe autism or Down’s syndrome, there is no cure, and most of these children cannot participate in a normal school setting.

If schools intend to cater for impoverished children through early intervention, then such programs have little use. I can’t find the link now but one Australian study found that any gains made by a student through early intervention programs tend to wear off by about the age of 7.

Most of these poor children are coming from single parent families, and these children tend to become single parents themselves, and the system of living on welfare goes on and can also extrapolate, and the current situation in the UK is a good example, where 30% of children are now regarded as being impoverished, in the 4th richest country on the planet.

When teachers talk of “Government spending” they are talking of “taxpayer funding”, and many taxpayers have already spoken by taking their children out of the public school system.

From what I have seen of teachers in the public school system, I would be doing exactly the same.

It is not the school buildings or lack of facilities or lack of equipment. Quite often a public school has much more than the private school down the road.

Ultimately it is the attitude of the teachers and their union that is the problem.

Vanna
I was referring to children with mental disabilities such as autism (sorry I should have clarified). Yes - autism and Down's syndrome have no "cure". However, you are incorrect in saying that "most of these children cannot participate in a normal school". In NSW most of these children (except the most severely disabled) are in mainstream public schools. According to the AEU 80% of children with disabilities are educated in public schools. There would be more specific NSW information on this issue in a 2010 NSW parliamentary enquiry report here: www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/BD30607CCEED0133CA25776200264698
A child I know, who is disabled due to a rare genetic condition, has just completed the NSW HSC (over 3 years instead of 2 due to his disabilities) and scored between 60% and 66% for all his subjects. He is now studying at TAFE. All due to the wonderful western Sydney high school he attended.
My own daughter, who has high functioning autism, attends our local public high school. Her teachers are wonderful, though public schools do differ from one area to another, largely on the basis of area socio economic status. So far, after 9 years engagement with the NSW public school system, as a parent of a child with autism, I have had few negative experiences with teachers.
It is easy for people to generalise and bash public school teachers and the public school system generally: but sometimes the critics are people who have no recent experience with the public school system (sometimes complaining because they had some bad experience in a public school 30 years ago, clearly irrelevant now).
Meanwhile scandals at private boarding schools involving a level of abuse attracting criminal prosecutions are usually reported just once in the media, and then glossed over....

JohnJ

Physical ailments such as high functioning autism are not the same as sever autism, and high functioning autism is actually quite common.

My experiences with the education system are very current, up to and including a daughter who has recently completed 12 years of school in a public school system. Throughout she only liked one teacher only (a chemistry teacher) out of all the teachers she had in those 12 years.

My experiences also extend to quite a number of P&C meetings and I was actually a member of a teachers group (QSITE) for some time.

Quite frankly, the teachers want to do as little as possible while grabbing as much money from the taxpayer as possible, and you can guarantee that if they are given money, they will spend as much as possible on imports from another country without the slightest conscience in the matter, and while spending their taxpayer funding they will use the public as a scapegoat for everything they can, while hiding as much as possible from the public as they can.

I think that covers it in a few sentences.

Vanna,

One shouldn't write off high-functioning autism as if it's hardly a challenge at all.
Although these children are not severely disabled, there are many challenges for them within a classroom and schoolyard environment.
Seemingly so close to neuro-typical children, often expectations in both behaviour and sensory compliance are way above the coping ability of these children.
High-functioning autistic children and those diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome who succeed in the school environment are a credit to themselves, their parents and their teachers.

Poriot
I have seen children who would have had a form of autism, who were severely bullied by teachers in a public school.

Most children with autism are male, and I have also seen feminist teachers in public schools with a totally dismissive attitude towards all male students.

In a private school, the parent has a much better chance that they can make a complaint about the teacher’s behavior, and that complaint will be acted on.

“a credit to themselves, their parents and their teachers”

One of the most noticeable characteristics of principals and teachers in the public school system, is that, if a student does well, they will say that this is because of the school and the teachers.

If the student does badly, they will say that this is because of the parents or the student.

They are some of the greatest con artists and excuse makers in the country, and they are allowed to be this way because of minimal accountability in the education system.

“Quite frankly, the teachers want to do as little as possible while grabbing as much money from the taxpayer as possible..”
I think that covers it in a few sentences."
No Vanna all that it covers is your perception of your experience with the education system.

My experience is different. I am 69 years old. I was educated in both the Catholic and Public system. I attended eleven schools, city, and country including two years of boarding.

My four children were educated in the same primary and secondary schools in a poor suburb of Sydney. I became a single mother after thirteen years in a violent marriage.

The support I had from most of those teachers and Principals was always of the highest quality. I participated in school activities such as Mothers Club and actually was involved to the extent that for twelve months, I ran the school canteen.

My children during this time were very disturbed from the home life they endured. They were not the best-behaved children to teach. The teachers never gave up. As a result they are now today reasonably well-adjusted and successful adults.

I have kept my contact with schools through my grandchildren and great grandchildren. My observations are that the majority of teachers give all for the benefit of children.

I have also observed in the last couple of years, the schools being bought into the twenty-first century as far as resources go.

Interaction with the education system is a two way street. I met during my long involvement with schools, many parents that no one could please. Many who blamed the schools for their own children’s behaviour. Many parents who believed their children could do no wrong. Many parents who did not take responsibility for their own children’s actions.

I am not saying I did not come across bad teachers or Principals, I did.

What I am saying that the picture of government schools not being up to the grade is very much misplaced