What does choice in education mean for parents?

The ongoing challenge in Catholic education in these times of uncertainty with the federal government, is in securing equitable funding arrangements for non-government schools across Australia to enable parents to choose a Catholic education for their children. With the impending federal government leadership challenge this week there are now questions around who will be the new federal Education Minister and will they be willing to continue negotations with the Catholic sector to resolve the funding issues.

The recent release of the Chaney report from the National Schools Resource Board (NSRB) indicated that the relentless campaigning led by Catholic Education authorities in Victoria along with the National Catholic Education Commission were not in vain as the NSRB moved to agree that the method used to calculate SES scores was flawed and that there needs to be a change to the model currently in place.

CSPV understands that with continuous pressure being placed on the federal government, they have had no choice but to come and meet at the table with Catholic authorities including Catholic Bishops, parent groups and system leaders in each state and territory to discuss future arrangements and to see from a Catholic education perspective how the current funding model, should it remain, would impact many families in our schools as well as future enrolments.

The new model being explored, as mentioned in our previous newsletter, is an SES model based on Parent Income Tax (PIT data) that would be obtained not through schools, but through the Australian Taxation Office. Parent capacity to pay would then be determined on the gross income tax data of each family as well as the resources required by each school.

As discussions and negotiations continue, CSPV last week wrote to the current federal Minister for Education, Simon Birmingham to encourage him to provide clarity as soon as possible in what the future plans are and how they will impact parents of children in Catholic schools and their ability to choose Catholic education for their children. We are also encouraging the Minister to meet with Catholic school parents who are the key stakeholders impacted in this debate, to listen to their concerns about a new policy implementation.

CSPV advocate for school choice for Catholic school parents. But what does that mean in terms of future choices in education in general?

According to Australian Catholic University Issues Paper 2; Choice and Values, “School choice has different connotations in different national political contexts. When choice means the opportunity to choose between public and private schooling, as it generally does in the Australian debate, it can be ‘one of the most hotly contested governance issues among education researchers and policymakers worldwide’ (West and Woessmann 2008). Various objectives are sought by governments in adopting choice policies but the overarching objectives are to improve school performance, reflect the values of parents, and allow for religious and educational difference.”

This is what the debate has been and continues to be about, providing the people of our democratic nation with options in where they wish to educate their children, not to be forced into systems that don’t provide religious education, the broad range of experiences, values and quality of education parents are seeking.

The report goes on to say, “according to economic theory, introducing choice and competition in public services, including schooling, brings extra pressure for performance, raising quality, increasing efficiency and also contributing to the well-being of the population by allowing individuals greater freedom and control over their own lives.”

This last point is one that perhaps resonates most for parents, the ability to have freedom and control over their own lives and to have the choice to be able to continue to provide an affordable Catholic education for their children when increasingly funding for government schools in Victoria is on the increase, while capital funding for Catholic schools is not currently meeting the demand. 

We encourage you as parents and carers of Catholic school children to continue to be positive advocates for Catholic education and to demonstrate why it’s so important for children to have the choice of a Catholic education here in Victoria and throughout Australia and why our children deserve a high standard of facilities and resources as any other children in Victoria, ‘The Education State’.

CSPV will continue to monitor the progress as to which funding model the potentially restructured federal government is planning to implement and the impact this may have on Catholic school families.

We encourage you to share updates with parents in your schools to keep them informed of the bigger picture in Catholic education and to present the facts around funding so they are aware of what the expectations will be in the future around funding for Catholic schools.