Vignette – A common framework for Australia?

Dr Suzanne Lazenby jointly initiated and served as co-Director of LEAP (Leading Educators Around the Planet), facilitating internationalised professional development for senior school leaders. She is a former elementary school principal and university lecturer, with internationally published research.

“There are many similarities between the existing situation in Quebec and Australia: complexities and contradictions in funding and regulation have grown over time and developed like topsy. École Ensemble’s proposed funding model for Quebec has a lot of merit and could be transferable to Australia.

The proposed model will save the government money. There is a transition plan suggested over five years and private schools which elect to contract into the common network will gradually phase out their current student selection process so that they are eventually drawing from their local community for enrolments. Optimised catchment areas for schools would be like those operating in Switzerland, with three components to consider: school capacity, distance from home to school, and a maximum socio-economic diversity in each catchment area. Census data will be used to guide these decisions.

Under the proposed plan schools can fundraise, but the money raised goes to the district school board, not the school itself. Non-contracted private schools are to have their public subsidies gradually removed across the transition phase. Part of their proposal is a one-off historical payment to endeavour to match private schools’ foundations assets and to compensate for past inequities.