Ah, the old falling standards debate.
What these harbingers of doom never mention is that standards only appear to have fallen because so many more kids are staying on to years 11 and 12 than ever used to, and then going on to tertiary education.
This is due to half of all full time jobs for teenage boys disappearing in the 1980s and an incredible two thirds of all full time jobs for teenage girls also going the same way.
Kids who would have gone into apprenticeships or other practical/manual skilled jobs now stay on at school because such jobs have dwindled away. So standards appear to have fallen because their performance is now being seen in schools whereas one they'd left at 14 or 15 to take jobs more suited to them.
By the way, the funding formula applies to all private schools both high and low fee, and, as I pointed out it is unfair to low fee schools too - just not quite as unfair as it is to public schools.
As for kids with learning difficulties, disabilities, or other kinds of disadvantage, while some private schools may take some of them, the vast majority - in every category - attend public schools. Indeed, Cardinal Pell himself admitted that 69% of the poorest Catholics attend public schools because they cannot afford even "low" fees. So, if Christian values (you know, like ministering to -read educating and accepting - the poorest and most vulnerable in our society) are to be judged by actions rather than pious words, public schools - particularly those in our most disadvantaged areas - have a strong case when it comes to actually practicing them.

Ah yes, the old public schools are so under funded debate. If the unions weren't so set on making out how badly off they were maybe they could admit to the truth about funding outlined by Mr O'Doherty. It gets my goat that, particularly coming up to elections, they are always espousing that private schools get more funding. What a load of hogwash. However, I do agree that falling literacy & numeracy standards are largely due to having to retain students in school longer - the only problem is, if they were assisted to improve instead of forced to move on then we probably wouldn't see the same increase in problems the older the student gets.

It is demonstrable that the greater the religiosity of a society, the less democratic that society is - and vice versa.
Religious schools indoctrinate children with irrational notions of all-knowing, all-powerful supermen in the sky that not only control the universe, but take a personal interest in every individual atom, and are always ready to punish wrongdoers. What this does to their brains is obvious when you look at the results... all over the world people afflicted with religion are murdering doctors, hanging and stoning adulterous women, persecuting homosexual men and women, refusing abortions to rape victims, killing, maiming and bombing those who believe in a different god - or even a different way of worshipping the same god...
The rise in religiosity in Australia over the last ten years, has seen an equal decline in our democratic freedoms.
No child should be exposed to irrational brainwashing. Religion is something that should only be practised among consenting adults in private. Otherwise - goodbye democracy.

ybgirp: Whether or not there has been a decline in democracy, and whether there has or has not been a rise in religiousity, they may in fact have nothing to do with one another. There's also been a rise in the prevalence of type two diabetes. Is that somehow related to democracy, religiousity, or both? Is the increased number of speed cameras related to the decline in democracy, the rise in religiousity, and the rise in prevalence of type two diabetes? Also, let's not forget the increased exports of coal to China, which are clearly the result of all of the above.

Phew, it's hard to keep up! I haven't even touched on global warming or the decline in number of Japanese tourists to Australia, let alone the price of a loaf of bread!

Anyhow, back to the topic. For what it's worth, having taught in the public system, I won't be sending my children through it. I'm pretty anti-religious, but I'd rather send my children through a nominally religious private school (or even homeschool them) than make them part of some failed social experiment in egalitarianism. Ideology isn't really an issue for me as I think my kids would probably end up as sceptical as I am about the more virulent strains of both the secular left and the religious right.

Funding is only a tiny part of this issue. It's all about the dicipline and standards, which is why the public system drives secular humanists like me to consider the mildly religious as infinitely preferable.

In the public system, there's generally an omnipresent 10% or so of hardcore trouble makers who derail the whole process. I always tell myself I'm immune to all this, but then some kid will come out with an absolute pearler of a comment or do something so outrageous that even I get shocked occasionally. The mere fact that I'm generally so de-sensitised to a lot of this speaks volumes. I think a lot of the advocates of state education really need to be a fly on the wall in the average classroom.

Shorbe,
religion and democracy are two sides of the coin of power, because the aim of both is control over citizens. Religious control is exerted by edicts from 'above'... by reference to an invisible, all powerful adjudicator that absolutely and explicitly forbids all criticism, argument or disagreement. Worst of all, the 'laws' governing religions are deemed to erupt from the godhead and are therefore infallible, and therefore unchangeable.
Democracy allows individuals self expression; it permits debate, it encourages disagreement and, most important, it permits change. Laws that are bad, can be changed.
No society ruled by religion has ever been democratic. All have been dictatorial regimes that use torture, fear and coercion to obtain obedience.
The faults of State Schooling are there, but the philosophy governing them is good. Rather than dumping a system in favour of one that in the long term will destroy our democracy, it would be better to correct the faults. That can be done, and has been done in many State Schools. It depends on the Principals and quality staffing. I have also taught in State Schools, some huge and multicultural from disadvantaged backgrounds, and all were excellent, well-run, tolerant places with high standards because that was what the administration demanded and got!

Some religion promise heaven to their believers while others, entrance into a state of eternal bliss through a series of incarnations. Truth is that there are no scientific proofs to their claims. It is all a matter of faith. Religion is for heaven and secularism is for peace on earth because religious systems are subjective and often fight one another thinking god is on their side.

ybgirp is right to suggest correcting the faults of state schools rather than abandoning them. For many Christian schools have lost their first love, become elitist and evolved to be ‘brand’ names within the local community. As with all things ‘branded’, it carries with it a premium price. So if parents want to send their children to a faith-based ‘branded’ school they must be prepared to pay for it.

If it is truly a Christian school, it should be part of the ministry of the denomination or Christian group. The sacrificial donations of the faithful would then be used to help fund these schools. These donations can be considered for some sort of a tax allowance.

Government funding of faith-based schools is inconsistent with the aims of a secular state. As Christ said, “..render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.