Australian public schools abandoned by wealthy families
- From: News Corp Australia Network
- April 11, 2013
WEALTHY families are deserting the public education system, with poorer students making up double the number of wealthy children at Australia's government schools.
This privilege exodus is most pronounced in high school, with more than 75 per cent of the highest earning families enrolled in independent and Catholic schools, according to analysis of 2011 census data.
The research shows a dramatic social shift during the past 25 years, with low and high income families equally represented at state schools in 1986.
''In contrast, a quarter century later in 2011, the differences are very marked: the government sector has almost twice the proportion of students from low income families relative to the proportion from high income families,'' said report author Barbara Preston.
In some states (Tasmania and South Australia) the proportion of students from low income backgrounds in government education is as much as four times higher than that of wealthy families.
Separate analysis of data from the My School website shows that not only do private school students attract 25 per cent more income than their public counterparts, they enjoy a higher rate of increase in government funding.
Private schools also outperform the other sectors and enjoy smaller class sizes than government schools, which have seen an increase in the student to teacher ratio.
The research also confirms the middle ground held by the Catholic education system, which has more wealthy than poor students, but mainly caters for children from medium income families.
Education experts agree higher concentrations of disadvantaged children hurt student performance, with a ''drag down'' effect felt across the school.
The report comes during intense focus on school funding, with the Federal Government struggling to push through its Gonski reform package at next week's COAG meeting.
''These findings highlight the importance of delivering funding reform to the address disadvantage and deliver money to where its needed most,'' said Angelo Gavrielatos, president of the Australian Education Union, which commissioned the report.
There are also stark differences across Australia, with wealthier states far more likely to enjoy a better social mix in their schools.
Tasmania and South Australia have the lowest family incomes and the widest social disparity, with Tasmanian school students more than two and a half times as likely to have low family incomes as high family incomes.
Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have the highest overall family incomes and the least social disparity.
New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland sit near the average, with around twice as many poor students than wealthy kids at public secondary schools.
The report also states access to high speed broadband is a significant advantage for students, and enjoyed by 94 per cent of students from high income families compared with just 68 per cent of lower income government primary school students.
To be released publicly today by the Australian Education Union, the research analysed census data from more than a million students whose families provided information about schooling and income in the 2011 census.
Family income was defined as low (less than $1249 a week), medium (between $1250 and $2499), high (more than $2500) and very high (more than $5000).