What utter garbage David f.

My wife I spent 15 years establishing & then running a school textbook hire scheme for the P&C at one of our nearby country town high school, a 1600/1700 kid school. This scheme put $170,000 into the school coffers on average each year, so we had pretty good access to the school management.

In the 5 years we had a headmaster worth employing, it was only OK, the rest of the time the place needed a bomb on it.

Most of the teachers were incompetent lazy dropkicks, & those who weren't usually got out & did something else pretty damn quick. In that time there was only one teacher capable of handling senior Math C, & as a union delegate, he was missing almost as often as he was there.

There was never a Physics teacher who knew the subject, & only one chemistry teacher. At 27 she was posted to a major city school as head of department.

The only kids getting a decent education there were the totally brilliant, & I was surprised at the number of these, who came individually wanting books, who did not need the school, or the kids with parents who knew enough, & cared enough to get the necessary outside help for their kids.

We needed 5 months lead time to get new textbooks supplied, covered & cataloged for issue to kids. Do you think we could get those lazy sons of bitches heads of department to actually sit down & figure out what they wanted far enough in advance? The literary ones were the worst, too busy being "literary" to have any time for being the teachers they were paid to be.

Thank god we have some private schools, without them the whole country would be illiterate, & innumerate in 20 years.

There is a very simple reason why private schools get better results, they typically demand a higher standard, before they accept a student. The public system has to accept all comers. It is also reasonable to assume that the more affluent you are, the more likely you are going to be somewhat smarter than the average person which if Darwin is right means your children should be too. Statistically half the population is below average intelligence :)
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/naplan-results-used-as-entry-criteria-for-private-schools-20130511-2jemo.html

The private schools I went too had totally incompetent English, French, maths, chemistry and geography teachers at one time or another. As George Bernard Shaw's  said “ Those who can do, those who can't teach”.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Of course I’m ideologically motivated. I want every Australian to get all the education that he or she is able to absorb. That’s my ideology. I would like to see students educated in mathematics and statistics so, unlike you, they can tell the difference between correlation and causation.

Certainly removing subsidies and putting the money into the public schools will cost more. One gets what one pays for. To see that all Australian children are educated to the extent they are capable will cost more but will benefit them and Australia. It will be worth the cost.

The economic conditions of the country will only benefit when all students get an adequate education. Your statement that eliminating subsidies to private schools will “Harm the long term growth and economic well being of the entire country” is absolute nonsense. You are not concerned with facts. Giving all students an adequate education will, in your words, “Harm the long term growth and economic well being of the entire country.”

What rubbish! You make nonsense statements and expect me to take you seriously.

I recognise class because class is a fact. I hope that you will learn more so you will learn the difference between correlation and causation. Maybe you didn’t get a very good education, but it’s never too late to learn.

Dear Hasbeen,

I’m sure your experience is as you described, and many teachers were lazy dropkicks. You get what you pay for. It’s that simple. Make it competitive to get into studies in education in university and pay teachers salaries competitive with industry, and the situation will change. I had an excellent education because in public school because it was depression time, and my teachers could not get other jobs.

What you did sounds very good.

My son, William, went to a private school in first grade. He wound up reading at a fifth grade level. I thought, “Boy o boy, what a school.” Then I found that of the nine others in his class one was reading at first grade level, and the other eight were doing remedial reading. Boy o boy, what a kid!

Both public and private school can contain incompetent teachers and administrators. You get what you pay for, and private schools are better funded. As warmair pointed out private schools have the freedom to select their students while public schools have to take all.

I would like to continue this discussion, but I think I will knock off for the day. I am tired.

Warmair,

What twaddle. Most independent schools have waiting lists for children, most of which are booked in far before their learning potential is known, and the kids are accepted on a first come basis. This clearly is not selective, though a few are.

For example, my son was accepted for Several GPS schools based on early application. After his acceptance, all applicants were required to submit academic records and sit tests to stream them according to ability to enable children of similar ability to be taught according to their needs. This practice is frowned on in public schools disadvantaging both bright and challenged children.

The single biggest difference I noticed between public and independent schools is the attitude of the parents and children to study. Any child that does not do assigned work is regarded with scorn.

David,

"I want every Australian to get all the education that he or she is able to absorb. That’s my ideology."

As the subsidies of independent schools frees funds for public schools and improves education all round. this is a solid endorsement of the status quo.

Don't misquote me. I said reducing the quality of education of about 30% of the children will harm the economy which is exactly what you are proposing to do.