While governments are involved in education the results will always be much less than ideal. We continually hear stories of children going through the system without an appropriate level of reading or mathematics.
Government funding of education should only be on a "per student" basis. Then let the market get fully involved as it was over a hundred years ago.
When we are deciding where to best invest our money for the future we don't let the government interfere so why let them meddle in our children's future through a restrictive education system?

Ozideas, You have misinterpreted my call for Government action as excessive reliance on Government. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rudd and Co have become expert at "motherhood statements" yet do little. So,they immediately pass the responsibility for action back to the "Community"!

The vague call to the imaginary entity called Community is a way of avoiding the responsibilities of Government and then complaining no-one cares and thats why nothing was achieved.

The Government must LEGISLATE and LEAD for goodness sakes.

Its nice to know Julia wants to help. Now Julia, go and DO something.

The article was filled with feel good platitudes that failed to address the relevant aspects of the causes of disadvantaged schools. Many people remain in their gilded cages, failing to understand the nature of those "on the other side" yet filled with good ideas of "how to solve the problem".
Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" in response to poverty... and this article is written in the same vein.
"And let families and communities themselves try to prevent their children starting school already educationally disadvantaged." Children starting school educationally disadvantaged come from families who are educationally disadvantaged.They are so often underresourced and unable to prevent their families starting school educationally disadvantaged. We need to recognise where these impoverished communities reside and begin helping those within the communities to overcome their socioeconomic disadvantage, and learn the skills to enable their chldren to overcome the apparent disadvantage. We need to begin these approaches well before children reach school age, because by seven years old, a child's brain is almost fully formed.
It takes a village to raise a child, and in this case we need to have commiment and resourcing to reach into villages to raise children.
By the way, one has to look at the mindset that are cynical about providing the impoverished with laptops. In our computer driven society, laptops only begin to address disparities, and indeed we need free laptops and more, so very much more.

Here is a shopping list. How much will be bought in the coming financial year?

It is easy to throw suggestions at people...become sargeant major teachers... create orderly classrooms... be