by50 is spot on. The data provided is carefully skewed with the assistance of the Teachers' Unions to make parents of public school students envious and demand cutbacks of funding to private schools.
The thing is this is an outdated 1960's "class war" attitude. Long gone are the days when private schools were the exclusive province of the so-called "rich", to be beaten with t stick by the Union class warriors. Most attendees these days come from middle class, even lower socio-economic families, whose parents are prepared to allocate scarce resource to get the best education for their children. Certainly my wife and I have 2 children we [partially] put through the state school system in Qld, We were happy to do so as we both went through the same system in a time when pupils were actually taught facts and useful tools for life.
We now have 2 sets of private schooling fees to pay and are happy to do so. The school we chose actually believes children are there to learn, to achieve their very best potential and to learn essential skills like self-discipline, time management and social skills. Best money we ever spent. At state primary, the general curriculum was almost like a remedial class - dumbed down to the lowest common denominator so every child won a prize and nobody had to experience failure. That's not what life is about. The local state high school is the largest in Qld and has a fine reputation for a state school. Yet we know parents of pupils, and see students on their way to school - it is not uncommon for them to go back and forth with no more than lunch, a piece of paper and a pen for the days note-taking. No thanks. We want our children to be equipped for something better than filling out Centrelink forms.
As for the old chestnut about cutting funding, that is absolute crap. My wife and I pay taxes - a whole lot - and don't use the state school system. If Gillard wants to cut funding to our chosen school, then give us a huge tax rebate instead; why I should I subsidise other people's kids?
The drift to private education will continue until the Teachers' unions are neutered and left wing beauracrats in state educations departments are put back in their boxes. Parents want the basics to be emphasised - the 3 R's, discipline, respect, and last but not least, a curriculum that teaches facts as opposed to left wing dogma. Certainly, we objected at our state primary when given notice the teacher intended showing the class "An Inconvenient Truth" to teach them about the dangers of "climate change". It was withdrawn. Save that for the Greens and the science fiction shelves at Blockbuster I say.
