Damned lies and school statistics

A range of reports from a variety of standpoints have recently been published about school funding. These include reports from the Australian Education Union, Independent Schools Australia and Catholic Schools NSW. The reports have been critiqued by Chris Bonnor, co-author of Choice and fairness: A common framework for Australian schools. 

The Australian Education Union is lobbying for full funding for public schools citing data from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). A report from the union – A Decade of Inequality – found 521 Victorian private schools received more combined Commonwealth and state funding than public schools of similar size, socio-economical advantage and location in 2022 – and that the gap was widening.

Independent Schools Australia said independent schools served a broad range of communities with unique needs and the funding reflected that diversity. The association said ACARA data showed independent school students received an average of $12,160, while public school students received $22,510 – largely due to state government contributions.

Chris Bonnor, co-author of ALL’s Choice and Fairness: A Common Framework for Australian Schools, says that at one level both the AEU and ISA are correct but that using average funding figures is misleading.

In Pearls and Irritations, Bonnor in an article Damned lies and school statistics again agrees that “they inevitably show that, on average, government schools are funded at higher levels, fuelling the myth that private schools save taxpayer funding – a claim which is also relatively easy to challenge.

He highlights that “Catholic Schools NSW also parades average funding figures as apparent proof that the funding of private schools represents a huge discount to taxpayers – perhaps believing that a “discount” avoids the need to elaborate in any detail. It is also the case that CSNSW has issued claims about school system equity that defy the evidence test.”

Bonnor writes: “Schools are anything but equal, and even their funding varies considerably, based on the costs of educating their often very different students. Only public schools must be open to every student from every location and every family. Private schools have no such obligation and charge a fee.”

His full article can be found here.

https://johnmenadue.com/damned-lies-and-school-statistics-again/