Report finds public schools are severely underfunded
Teachers are calling on governments to adequately fund public schools as education ministers prepare to negotiate a new funding deal. An independent review has laid out recommendations to lift student outcomes, retain more teachers and close the gap for students most at risk of falling behind.
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00:00 After 15 years of teaching high schoolers, Alice Leung still thinks it's the best job
00:06 in the world. But she's being worn down by the crisis facing public schools around Australia.
00:11 The workload is unmanageable and is not getting any better.
00:17 Workloads are growing, teachers are leaving and many students are falling further behind,
00:22 with an independent review finding that needs to be urgently addressed.
00:26 You're not going to be teaching at your best when you've got 50 students with you instead
00:30 of 30 or 24.
00:33 The expert panel calls for evidence-based teaching methods in the classroom, more professional
00:37 development and mentoring for teachers, and incentives for staff to work in disadvantaged
00:42 schools.
00:43 It's about money, but it's also about what that money's spent on.
00:46 The report also found that while the vast majority of public schools aren't funded to
00:51 the minimum standard for the sector, most private schools are. And some are getting
00:56 above that threshold. And the independent sector is worried reform could come at their
01:00 expense.
01:01 What we are concerned about is ensuring that we don't proceed on the basis, and it has
01:07 been raised by some people, that that can somehow be achieved by removing resources
01:11 from other sectors.
01:13 The nation's public schools are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to educating disadvantaged
01:17 students. Public schools enrol nearly twice the number of students than the non-government
01:21 system. About a third of the students in public schools are from disadvantaged socioeconomic
01:26 and education backgrounds. That's nearly three times the number in non-government schools.
01:31 We have one of the most segregated school systems in the OECD. Not by the colour of
01:36 your skin, but by the size of your parents' pay packet.
01:40 This review sets the scene for the states, territories and federal government to hash
01:43 out a new school funding deal. But with such entrenched inequality to address, and a need
01:47 to lift student outcomes, the group are going to have their work cut out for them in 2024.
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