Public schools and public education Jenny Macklin - Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Education, Employment and Training

Speech

Transcript - Australian Council Of State School Organisations Conference, Perth - 4 September 2003

Our public schools are the backbone of the community.

Most Australians recognise the central role of public education in the development of this country.

As Ken Boston, former Director-General of Education in NSW and now CEO of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in the UK, said - public schools are the ‘crucible' from which our democracy has been built.

Public schools cater for two thirds of all primary and secondary school students. Most Australians are the beneficiaries of public education and most Australians understand and value the vital role of public education.

Education enriches the nation in so many ways, and it all starts in our public schools.

Since coming to office seven and a half years ago, the Howard government has systematically shifted resources from public to private schools.

Under the Howard Government's biased schools funding system, in 2004 around $100 million of federal funding will go to elite private schools, which less than two per cent of school children will ever see the inside of.

The increase for some schools is disgraceful. Trinity Grammar School in Sydney charges fees of over $15,000. You would all know that the average per student expenditure in government schools, according to the National Report on Schooling, is around $10,000 (using accrual figures).

This school will receive $5 million from the federal Government in 2004; and another $1.3 million in state grants.

When funding from all sources is considered, the school operates at 200 per cent of the resources in public schools, and most other non-government schools.

The Howard Government, in applying its version of the ‘needs' principle, has decided that this category one school deserved an increase of over 220 per cent in federal funding between 2001 and 2004.

The Howard Government's increases for the wealthiest private schools in the country is nothing less than scandalous when so many public and non-government schools have greater need.

The Howard Government tries to justify this skewed funding system with the rhetoric of free choice. Brendan Nelson likes to pretend that the increased funding to private schools gives parents' more choices about their children's education.

What that really means is more choices for some parents in wealthy circumstances, and less choice for working parents in ordinary circumstances.

This two tiered system means a greater divide. We can see it already.

Just this week I've been to North-West Tasmania and visited two terrific high schools.

But 15 per cent of students don't go on to senior high school.

Some of those who leave after year 10 go on to TAFE but far too many leave education. At the senior high school only 30 per cent go to university.

By contrast, in the wealthier parts of our cities, many schools have 90 per cent or more of their students going to university.

This is delivering higher unemployment for those who miss out on a decent education and less tolerance and cohesion. A future marred by declining living standards, an unskilled workforce and ever-swelling inequality, welfare bills, prison populations and gated communities.

That's what happens when governments wash their hands of responsibility for education for all children.

Public education should be a national priority.

This means that the national government must accept its share of responsibility, in partnership with the states. It also means an end to buck-passing and cost-shifting between federal and state governments.

The Howard Government ignores the vital, nation-building role our public schools play.

Schools are how we introduce children to the world they will live in: to shared values and ideas, ways of doing things and relating to others.

Schools – all schools – are about teaching values that our young people will carry with them.

The Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, has been making much of ‘values' in schools. He likes to imply that non-government schools offer values and government ones are ‘value free'.

But there is much more to values than school uniforms and rhetoric. Values must be about teaching our young people to be honest, principled and compassionate members of the community.

It's not enough to mis-use values-education as a platform to promote your own world-view, and to push a political agenda.

Public schools teach our young people many values including standing up for the under-dog, fair play and respect for others. These things are central to being Australian.

Values, principles, ethics – whatever you want to call them - are learnt by example, through role models, be they parents, teachers or other community leaders.

There is so much more to a school's ethical expression than its motto. It is in what a school practices: which students they deem worthy of admittance; how they balance diversity and cohesion; how they allocate resources; their commitment to accountability and transparency.

All these things foster an ethical code in students, the values of Australian society.

I have seen all this – inclusion, compassion, equity, commitment to excellence, a passion for learning – and more, in our public schools.

Yesterday, I was at Balcatta High School here in Perth. One of the things that impressed me was the students' grasp on fairness and their concern about the welfare of others. We have a Prime Minister who says that students from places like Balcatta, Broadmeadows and Bankstown should be able to pay $100,000 for a degree at an Australian university. Yet as Sarah, a senior student at Balcatta High said to me, "most students can't afford full fees - and they're the ones who need the most help to get an education."

This bright young woman had a very firm grasp on what a fair go means.

Public schools are an expression of the responsibility of governments to guarantee that every child receives an education, and not just a basic, safety net level of education, but a high quality one. And no one should be deprived of quality schooling because of lack of resources.

This is not just a valuable lesson to teach, it is an absolute precondition for any sort of future Australia worth having. This is beyond negotiation. Public education is our investment in our children and the country's future. If we're not serious about public education we are not serious about our future as a nation.

All parties to the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs have signed on to a Framework of Principles for Schools' Resourcing - except for one. The framework is a commitment to a strong and vital public school system.

The abstainer is, of course, Brendan Nelson. The federal government just is not committed to public school education. But federal Labor is.

It's time for a new state and federal consensus based on a clear federal government commitment to public schools in Australia as well as updated funding arrangements.

Funding for all schools must be provided around clear principles of educational and financial need.

A federal Labor government will work with its state and territory partners to implement the MCEETYA principles. We believe in them. Those principles will be the basis for a Federal Labor government's funding policies for schools.

I am pleased to say that the ACTU has adopted an education policy statement that is consistent with our principles.

In many ways, this policy is an historic agreement, based on negotiated agreement between the Australian Education Union and the Independent Education Union.

It's easy for a society to provide high quality education for the few.

Getting high quality for everyone is harder. That's the challenge for any country. It requires real and ongoing commitment and resources. It means pushing and pushing to reach every child in every corner of the country.

We need both quality and equity - that is the distinctive mission of public schooling. No one else can do it.

And it will be the mission of a federal Labor government.

End. Check Against Delivery