Media Watch

• • • JULY 2024
    • * Jane Caro's best yet: 'Class Warfare' (The Monthly). Leans on what we know from recent research with what it all has come to mean.
    • * Great publicity for a groundbreaking school design: ‘Big Picture model part of alternative education push to improve Australia's school system’ ABC News. * ‘A child in Gaza’ Brain science specialist John Frew maps out an awful future for Gaza. P&I * Nora de la Cour, ‘We can’t win the culture wars’ …an important message showing what lies behind measures to gut public education in the US. Jacobin. Also another great article from ProPublica which shows how this plays out on the ground. * ‘Smart students thrive without selective schools’ Mirage. See also the full research in British Journal of Educational Studies.
    • JUNE 2024
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    • * 'Reading, writing and … disinformation: should schoolchildren be taught media literacy like maths?' Guardian Australia. Yes!
    • * 'Numeracy in schools doesn’t add up. Here’s how experts would solve the problem'. SMH.
    • * 'Oz students rank amongst world’s leading creative thinkers – but what does that mean?' Education HQ.
    • * More students withdrawn from NAPLAN exams after introduction of My School University of Melbourne Newsroom.
    • * 'Private Schools Serving Richest NSW Families Over-Funded by Millions' Latest from Trevor Cobbold.
    • MAY 2024
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    • * Now this is interesting and timely: 'Abilities not exams: Victorian students testing a new measure that could replace ATAR' The Age
    • * ACER releases its most recent report on PISA data and the print media manage a mixed quality response, usually with tabloid headlines, including Guardian Australia, SMH etc.
    • * 'The changing fortunes of politicians’ schools' Inside Story. My latest research piece. Are our federal politicians really equipped to vote on the next National Schools Reform Agreement? The schools they once attended tell a story. Also a shorter version in Pearls and Irritations.
    • * 'Sydney private schools harness parent donations for scholarships' SMH ...Revealing!
    • * Jane Caro: 'Free education is possible'The Saturday Paper
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    • APRIL 2024
    • * 'Private schools, public subsidies: with $50k fees per child per year, how can tax breaks be justified?'Michael West Media
    • * 'Scott Morrison-era ‘accounting tricks’ to cost public schools $13bn over next five years' Guardian Australia. Also, ''Three of Australia’s wealthiest private schools got double the federal funding they were entitled to last year'
    • 'Reform calls on religious discrimination against school teachers don’t stand up' Crikey
    • * 'Government funding increases continue to favour private schools' Trevor Cobbold, P&I.
  • March 2024
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  • * Here we go again: 'Landmark report calls for removal of LGBTQ+ discrimination exemptions for Australia’s religious schools' Guardian Australia. Also with a follow-up a day or two later.
  • * The Kings' School in the news again, via some editorialising from the headmaster. SMH.... followed by a few opinions.
  • * Here’s why private schools shouldn’t exist, writes a teacher in Crikey.
  • * 'Every school in NSW to offer gifted education programs' SMH. While selective schools continue? Good luck with that one!
  • * 'Private school parents save the education system $4.6b a year: study'. The Fin Review reports on new research by Catholic Schools NSW. It rejects earlier claims (by me and others), yet uses a similar premise (i.e. apples with apples comparisons) ... but with a different set of numbers. Hmmm
  • * 'Australia’s school system: OOPs!' Lyndsay Connors and Jim McMorrow make the CSNSW concerns look irrelevant.
  • * Yet another high-fee private shoots itself in the foot. Best reports/comments include Guardian Australia (Van Badham), and the ABC. ...and Adam Voight in the SMH.
  • * Guardian Australia reports on how parents avoid school catchments with public housing.
  • FEBRUARY 2024
  • * 'The fight for public school funding' Solid report from Jane Caro in The Saturday Paper
  • * 'Two-class school system a great way to entrench low productivity' Another Ross Gittens gem!
  • * 'Public schools got $357 in fees per student last year – their private rivals raked in $13,000' * 'These five private schools spent more on capital works than 3300 public schools' SMH
  • * 'Public school advocates warn Albanese government billions at stake if it breaks funding promise' Guardian Australia.
  • * 'Record-low enrolments at Australian government schools should ring ‘alarm bells’, experts say' Guardian Australia. Also reported in the Nine Media. On this also: Private school data: which state has the most private students? Crikey
  • * More on funding inequality from Trevor Cobbold et al through an excellent Guardian Australia report.
  • * 'The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance of success' Latest and widely reported Grattan initiative. Aside from the media splurge, John Frew challenges a few assumptions.
  • * 'The private schools with the richest parents in Australia revealed' The Age report is based on Trevor Cobbold's most recent research.
  • * 'Does single-sex education really provide better outcomes for students?' Guardian Australia's report on this over-hyped issue is one of the best.
  • * The new Productivity Commission's report on government services is especially significant. School reports in The Age (on Western Australia), five take-aways in Guardian Australia, with another report on student attendance and retention.
  • * Paul Kidson unpacks the funding issue in The Conversation.... and I add my perspective in Pearls and Irritations. Guardian Australia outlines how the money falls well short. Trevor Cobbold comments in Guardian Australia.
  • * More reports on Jason Clare's funding decision (probably made six months ago). See news items in the

  SMH, Guardian Australia, The Age, ABC News,

• JANUARY 2024
  * 'Are North Sydney and Fairfield on different planets? Yes, to a degree' Great piece from Andy Marks at WSU.
• * 'The pay packets of high-fee private school bosses revealed' SMH
• * A report on the cost of schooling is doing the media rounds. But ask who wrote the report ... and why? 'Does a public school education in Australia really cost $93k?' asks Guardian Australia.
• * 'Private schools targeted in proposed ‘tax grab’ The Educator. Just watch the vested interests come out swinging on this one!
• * NSW selective schools again under fire as the SMH editorialises.
• * 'Big switch: The Sydney suburbs rejecting public education' SMH
• * 'Nearly 80% of Australian students say they ‘didn’t fully try’ in latest Pisa tests' Guardian Australia.
• * 'Coaching colleges target selective students and ‘undermine’ HSC' Enough said. SMH
• * 'Australia continues to passively abuse disadvantaged students', John Frew in P&I
• * 'Productivity Commission Should Recommend Ending Tax Deductibility For All Donations To Private Schools' Trevor Cobbold
• * 'Britain’s private school problem: it’s time to talk' Great read, The Guardian.
• * 'Private schools had biggest decline in PISA results' Well worth reading, Trevor Cobbold in P&I
• DECEMBER 2023
• THERE ARE TWO OTHER BIG DECEMBER EVENTS. The first is the HSC/VCE etc which will be the same as any other year.
• The second may prove to be a major benchmark event in Australian school history. It is the Report of the panel set up to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System. See reports in the SMH, Guardian Australia.... also The Canberra Times (including more details on Jason Clare's significant endorsement. See commentary in The Conversation (Glenn Savage and Jacob Broom), Guardian Australia (also Gllenn Savage). My opinion: it is a big and welcome initiative, yes the panel made some compromises, but we have a chance now to get on the right track... see 'Lean over PISA. Make way for a better future for schools' (on the AARE blog). Tom Greenwell has a superb piece in Pearls and Irritations.
• PISA is with us again. Usually that calls for a media-fed moral panic, but this year's PISA reports have somewhat bamboozled the commentariat. OK, so I'd suggest go straight to the real thing, the ACER REPORT ON PISA, then to the media. The latter includes reports from:
• ABC News, The Age, Guardian Australia, also the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
• More on Finland here. ..and here is a reminder to be cautious about PISA. Also, good summary comments from Pasi Sahlberg. ...and an urban/rural focus in the Canberra Times. And as usual, and thank goodness, Trevor Cobbold gets to the heart of the sorry equity story behind the headlines.
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• * 'NAPLAN has ‘insidious’ influence on teaching practices, new study shows'. Well done ACU!
• * The Australian Curriculum is copping fresh criticism – what is it supposed to do? Wescott and Holloway in The Conversation.
• * 'Privatising public schools via product pipelines: Teach For Australia, policy networks and profit' by Emma Rowe, Sara Langman and Christopher Lubienski.
• * Also in December, the SMH reports on on a rather odd comparision of schools initiated by ACARA....ABC News also reports.
• * Guardian Australia also investigates how philanthropy laws are contributing to private school over-funding.
• * ... and for a bit of end-of-year non-news: 'Boys close the gap on girls as single-sex schools outperform co-ed' SMH. Hmmm

NOVEMBER 2023

• 'Australian Curriculum gets an F for failing teachers and students' This work received big media coverage but I wonder? This editorial in the Fin Review accidentlyexpressed a little doubt.
• Who does what HSC subjects and where? predictable but interesting.
• 'Australia's poorest children are five years behind richest peers, Naplan analysis shows' Guardian Australia
• 'Less than half Albanese’s cabinet went to state schools' Mike Seccombe in The Saturday Paper. This is a terrific report... and there is much more to tell.
• 'School funding stoush looms over spiralling autism costs'. Interesting...but not surprising.
• 'The private school raising fees by almost 10 per cent' Ho Hum ... even the the various comments look recycled from 25 years ago
• 'Teaching gender equality is hard when we segregate school students' A mostly thoughtful editorial in the SMH.
• 'Report reveals growing funding divide between the haves and have-nots across the nation's education system'. ABC - more superb work from Adam Rorris. Read his full report. More in Guardian Australia.
• 'Gonski for universities: what if we funded higher education like schools?' Four academics in The Conversation.
• A WA call for for NAPLAN to be scrapped, and more regulation on independent schools. Top one, Carmen Lawrence.

OCTOBER 2023

• 'Education boss calls for doubling down on explicit teaching in schools' SMH. Yes, all very well (?), but as long as it doesn't replace anything!
• 'How identity politics has plunged our public schools into crisis', another gem from Ross Gittens
• 'Private schools face tighter rules on using $1.5b in public funds' SMH
• 'Rich-poor gap growing in our schools, new data shows' The Educator.
• SMH reports crack down on out-of-area enrolments in NSW public schools. Most interesting
• I'm not convinced about integrating special ed kids into mainstream, but for quite different reasons: 'In our competitive school culture, students with a disability take second place' SMH....also in P&I.
• The very qualified John Frew also wades in: Our better angels: Should we include or segregate students? In P&I
• Crunching HSC data - the SMH reports. Smart work and all, but how much of this is really a game-changer?
• 'Almost half of private school parents would consider switching to a better funded public system, survey finds' Guardian Australia
• The disability royal commission has reported. Best take is from Guardian Australia.
• 'The Case for Investing in Public Schools The Economic and Social Benefits of Public Schooling in Australia' from the Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work. A good read.

SEPTEMBER 2023

• Gone quiet. The current review of the National Schools Reform Agreement is nearing its end. Its Consultation Paper hit the target in so many respects....and has been followed by a flurry of behind the scenes activity. Watch this space! At the moment it is the most significant game in town.
• In the meantime, a few interesting articles and reports, as they come to hand.
• Somewhat pointless series from the SMH on high performing schools. Anything we didn't really know? See their breaking story, then ranking on HSC averages, also the stories from the schools blessed with advantaged enrolments, oh, and the editorial which advocates for more of this tosh.
• Meanwhile, something more cerebral from The Age: 'Abolish the ATAR, make teachers repeat: The big ideas to shake up our education system'.

AUGUST 2023

• 'Retired teachers covering classes, broken windows. The plan to fix these regional schools isn’t working' News about a recent a NSW auditor-general’s report. Sadly, not much that is new.
• 'The Kings School goes for a row over headmaster’s jaunt'. The SMH editorialises on the Thjames regatta/plunge pool saga.
• New campaign for full funding of public schools. Launch of AEU campaign.
• 'Mirror, mirror on the wall…a better and fairer school system' Lyndsay Connors in Pearls and Irritations.

JULY 2023

• Meghan Stacey and Jung-Sook Lee (UNSW) tell of their findings on what is considered fair in school education.EduResearch Matters.
• And more from Guardian Australia: 'Australian public school funding falls behind private schools as states fail to meet targets'
• Great series in Guardian Australia: firstly on funding, then on school choice and its impacts. The next is ‘Where is the accountability?’: Indigenous children bear the brunt of Australia’s unequal education system' . The final is 'The Gonski dream: how can governments restore funding – and trust – to public education?' A podcast comes with the series. Finally,Tom Greenwell and I bookend it with 'Social segregation is the biggest problem facing Australian schools. Can we balance choice and fairness?'
• 'Teacher training report reflects a superficial understanding of education' from John Frew in P&I. This is well worth a read. Ross Fox has responded, but I claim (also in P&I) that he has stretched a few weak points. And don't forget Ivan Webb's site, most recently showing 'How competition is ruining Australia's school system'
• 'Universities given two years to overhaul teaching degrees after education ministers' meeting' Report from the ABC...and also from the SMH. But this 'Political incursion into teaching the teachers is a hard lesson' says Deb Hayes from Sydney Uni. I agree.
• An interesting focus on high-fee schools. Firstly on pay packets. Then on the Victorian payroll tax saga. THEN, when the going gets tough, change the debate: 'Private schools call for focus on education over 'funding wars'

JUNE 2023

• 'Public education's 'elephant in the classroom'. Another valuable insight from John Frew.
• 'A problem bigger than rich schools and funding'. Me with Tom Greenwell in P&I ... followed by a shorter version in the Australian Financial Review.
• Newly published research confirms the power of peer or compositional effects on student achievement. Primary author Michael Sciffer reports in The Conversation. This work is quite sensational!
• 'Underfunded public schools suffer'. Jane Caro reports on the state of play revealed at a Melbourne conference. The Saturday Paper.
• This should be compulsory readying for all school principals: 'Good story, bad theory - An enterprising school principal mistakes mastering the system for fixing it', says Tom Greenwell in Inside Story
• And this with a NSW focus: '$10 Million for consultants: a further step from reality'. John Frew in P&I

MAY 2023

• How do people regard the increasing inequity of our school framework? Junk-sook Lee and Meghan Stacey have published their research.
• ....and high fee schools in Victoria will have to pay payroll tax. Reports here and here.
• Some may be following the complete 'privatisation' of Reddam House in Sydney ... but Lindsay Connors offers perspectives that most would have missed. It's concerning.
• Guardian Australia reports on the Victorian intention to impose payroll tax on high-fee schools. Good luck with that one. Meanwhile the AEU has accused the same government of backsliding on school funding.
• Here's a good example, from CIS, of prioorities in school reform that manage to avoid anything relating to system structures and subsequent equity/achievement issues....and as presented in the Fin Review
• 'Parents opt for religious schools as student enrolments soar' SMH. Source is Independent Schools Australia, useful stats compined with useless claims.
• Two bits of good news, with cautions. 'Australia’s Year 4 students have not lost ground on reading, despite pandemic disruptions' Kylie Hillman in The Conversation. Also in The Convo, is 'A pandemic silver lining: how kids in some disadvantaged schools improved their results during COVID' from Jenny Gore et al.
• Reinventing Australian Schools, new from Pasi Sahlberg et al. Also expanded in The Educator. A good read, but surely we have excellent examples (e.g. Big Picture) doing most of this right now? Do we really have to start from scratch?
• Three interested and not unrelated related stories: 'Sydney’s most overcrowded schools breaching their student cap' Also 'Education costs rising rapidly' and finally an editorial - 'Schools do their best, but time is nigh for a major shake-up' Not radical...but a bit different.
• Also a bit different (amidst some popular refrain) this from David Zyngier.
• 'Politics kid from Sydney’s west takes charge of education in NSW' SMH. Two cheers for Prue Car. But how far and deep will she go?
• My response in Pearls and Irritations with a slightly shorter version in the SMH.
• What is it about 'kids'....the SMH has followed up with something similar about Jason Clare: 'Boy from western Sydney plots generational reform for education'

APRIL 2023

• 'Poor discipline in Australian schools among factors driving teachers away, OECD warns'. Guardian Australia.The OECD document can be found here.*
• ''What is the National School Reform Agreement and what does it have to do with school funding?' Glenn Savage in The Conversation

MARCH 2023 *

• More on wealthy schools behjaving rather badly: 'Residents, private schools clash over billion-dollar building boom' and 'Sydney private schools breach enrolment caps by hundreds of students'* 'Less philosophy, more skills: Major shake-up of teaching degrees recommended' SMH. Is anyone still keeping count of the number of teacher ed reviews we've had since 2001? fifteen? more?
• 'No revolution necessary: mainstream public schools can – and must – put creativity at their heart' Guardian Australia
• ‘Vicious parents’, students target NSW principals in record numbers' Various media.
• 'Coalition pledges $50 million to private schools' SMH. Of course they did! Read 'This might shock you (left column on this site).
• 'The Labor Essayists: Chalmers, Rudd and the failing market of schools' Peter Morgan and myself in a flaskback...and forward?
• Building education systems for equity and inclusion Out from the Gonski Institute, from Scott Eacott and a wide range of contributors. Very timely.
• 'Australian children facing higher student-to-teacher ratios at public schools than at private institutions' The Guardian.
• 'Sydney private schools spend millions on land for new campuses' SMH * 'Our study found new teachers perform just as well in the classroom as their more experienced colleagues'

FEBRUARY 2023

• 'NAPLAN year 5 results: The state’s top schools revealed' SMH. This gets more stupid than ever
• 'Fairfax-Ipsos poll: Huge majority of Australians oppose laws banning gay students and teachers' Interesting and encouraging.
• 'School attendance rates are dropping. We need to ask students why' Nigel Howard and Andrew Bills in The Conversation.
• Two opeds in the SMH. Lyndsay Connors nails some big problems in 'If the private school sector is ‘too big to fail’, why make it bigger?' Less resonating, Kevin Donnelly has a little cultural warrior bleat about the rights of church schools.
• ‘We have a retention crisis’: $40,000 pay rises pledged for top NSW teachers' promises the NSW government (SMH)
• 'Hey Sydney, can we talk about something other than property and private schools?' A fun read in the SMH, as are recent letters. ...and also here.
• 'Defunding private schools is not on, but we can make education fairer', a flawed but thoughtful article by David Hastie in the SMH.
• New ABS data on school enrolments - and declines in gov schools - reported, with various levels of detail, in the Guardian, ABC News, the SMH ..Editorialised in the SMH.
• 'Rise in selective schools drains HSC stars from comprehensive system' a report in the SMH (and The Age) on my most recent research into selective schools. A longer article, 'Selective schools, a problem that could become a solution' in Inside Story explores a solution.
• 'Belling the cat in NSW private schools' Yes, it's time. Lyndsay Connors in P&I
• 'PM reaffirms commitment to allow religious schools to hire staff based on faith' The Guardian.
• 'Victorian school students remain among lowest funded in the country' Nine Media
• 'School reform: shift the deck chairs, forget about the ship' P&I. My contribuition to the start of the school year.
• 'Funding for private schools grows faster than for state schools' Situation normal ...in fact, SNAFU.
• 'Private schools are poaching teachers from the public sector with better salaries, principals say' Another situation normal, ABC News
• 'Why we should defund private schools and examine their values' Jenna Price, a take no prisoners contribution. Then, in a case of unfortunate timing (at least for the schools), 'Catholic schools to oppose LGBTQ+ teacher and student law reform proposal', The Guardian.
• New school year, new ideas? Well, not quite. 'Private schools lock in high achievers as demand for scholarships rise' SMH. Just the usual scramble for preferred students. A new Grattan report plugs for high quality small group tutoring in schools....report in the SMH. Labor in NSW wants this and also ban student phones. 'Australia's teacher shortage is a generational crisis in the making', writes Fiona Longmuir (ABC) * With both a memory of the past and an eye on the future, Lyndsay Connors illustrates what is still missing in our approach to school policy. Read 'The sound of silence on school education in NSW' in P&I.

JANUARY 2023

• 'The Watchers - Directors of educational decline' in Pearls and Irritations. This is a very astute comment on the current NSW Department of Education, especially how and why it fails to deliver.
• 'Australia's private school fees continue to rise, but for once they're less than inflation', Julie Hare in the AFR.

DECEMBER 2022

• 'Labor’s delay on public schools funding deal a ‘betrayal’ of disadvantaged students, advocates say' The Guardian. Also, 'Labor Betrays Public Schools & Disadvantaged Students' ...Trevor Cobbold's telling condemnation. Also from Save our Schools: 'Shocking Inequalities in School Results' Very timely and important.
• ‘We shouldn’t be doing well’: how year 12s at one NSW school rose above disadvantage. The Guardian. A better take on achieving schools.
• 'Australia has a plan to fix its school teacher shortage. Will it work?' by Paul Kidson in The Conversation. A good stocktake of the current crisis.
• 'Teachers don’t always follow evidence on what works, research finds'. They should, as should governments and system leaders when they make policy
• Here's the latest set of school education stats from the ABS.
• Not much light comes out of Britain these days, but this is an exception: an editorial in The Observer on how to overcome elitism in education. Bet they don't!
• It has a long title but an important message, from Laura [perry et al in Large Scale Assessments in Education: 'The substantiveness of socioeconomic school compositional effects in Australia: measurement error and the relationship with academic composition'
• 'Australian private high school enrolments have jumped 70% since 2012' Esperanza Vera-Toscano in The Conversation.
• 'Perrottet will open a new selective school at Westmead. It’s a terrible idea'.Jordan Baker on the latest selective madness in NSW. Some wonderful letters in response.

NOVEMBER 2022

• 'Funding smaller classes, teacher home visits would lift outcomes: report' The SMH reports and editorialises on the McKell Institute paper on how full SRS funding can lift achievement. Two-thirds of the paper are very good, the final third is questionable. * The elite (?) schools arms race now extends to salaries for principals. See 'Principals at top private schools notch up pay packages of nearly $1 million' in the SMH. Just as interesting were the letters the next day.
• “The fish has died”: The demise of NSW public schools', John Frew in Pearls and Irritations. A lot of home truths. When will failed system leaders be really accountable?
• 'Writing development: What does a decade of NAPLAN data reveal? ' This report from AERO excited a few headlines about deteriorating writing skills. 'What AERO’s report of writing development in Australia doesn’t want to talk about ' is a response from four Monash academics. James Ladwig also responds, with AERO biting back. My response? It is yet another blinkered report.
• Now here's something (not) new: 'Year 9 boys 'a year behind' year 9 girls as 2022 NAPLAN results reveal 'mixed bag' ABC News. How do you create a headline out of nothing new?
• But this is better: 'Stressful, narrowly focused and, for many, a bit pointless: Is it time to rethink year 12 exams?'ABC News....and the answer to the question is YES.

OCTOBER 2022

• 'Schools in crisis; solutions in disarray'. Pearls and Irritations. I've drawn together recent responses to some well-publicised problems.
• Recent news about schools reveals interesting connections and contrasts. One trigger has been Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools, new from The Grattan Institute. It was reported in the SMH and The Age. In broad terms, it can be seen as part of frenetic efforts to improve measurable student outcomes. But in some contrast, The Guardian has a report: 'Should the Atar be scrapped? Seven experts on the student ranking system' The SMH also reports on 'Aboriginal language boost in curriculum overhaul', a most worthy initiative. So do we want worthy initiatives ... or do we want to screw the system down with standardised lessons?
• Pasi Sahlberg: 'If Australia wants to improve school outcomes, we need to define what ‘equity’ really means' in The Conversation. Full marks to him and also to Trevor Cobbold for opening a debate we need.
• Good read from John Frew: 'Public Education – a test for the ALP' in Pearls and Irritations
• 'Education gap widens as HSC high achievers disappear from low socio-economic schools' Lucy Carroll reports in the Nine media papers. A recent draft of the research is available here.
• 'Sydney private schools warn students will be turned away unless enrolment caps raised' SMH. Nice little illustration of pressure groups and media. Lyndsay Connors (in P&I) calls it out for what it is: 'Independent Schools: Aspiration for the few, desperation for the many'.
• 'Australian education funding went backwards during pandemic'. Reports in the SMH and also on ABC News.
• 'Education is ripe for disruption’: Call to extend school hours, put classes online'. Some better suggestions from the PC report, plus comments from the head.

SEPTEMBER 2022

• 'Confession of a Knox Grammar old boy: my son won’t lose sleep as I have' A good read.
• 'Sydney’s wealthiest suburbs claim the most HSC disability provisions' SMH. Getting serious when the SMH editorialises.
• Trevor Cobbold has joined in this important push: 'Labor Should Scrap the Stage 3 Tax Cuts for the Rich'.

AUGUST 2022

• 'Teacher crisis won’t resolve until we end game of political football' A smart take on the issues by Adam Voigt.
• 'Private schools to be forced to shed light on salaries for top staff' SMH
• OK, my turn: 'A teacher surplus is hiding in plain sight' in the SMH.
• 'Bigger salaries for top teachers to stop classroom exodus' Lucy Carroll in the SMH.
• 'Australia spends $5 billion a year on teaching assistants in schools but we don't know what they do'. Julie and Jordana from Grattan, in The Conversation. Yes, we need to know more about this!
• 'Private schools win millions in disability funding' Exclusive from Rick Morton in The Saturday Paper.
• 'King’s School forced to explain spending on plunge pool, flights to British regatta' SMH. A little start, but a long way to go!
• 'NSW is reserving 20 per cent of selective school places for disadvantaged students, and some parents aren't happy about it'SMH. What a surprise!!
• 'Lift school age to six to put students on more even footing, says education minister' SMH. Interesting, but what else might be driving this suggestion?
• 'As another elite boys’ school goes co-ed, are single-sex schools becoming an endangered species?' Amanda Keddie in The Conversation.....and does anyone care?

JULY 2022

• 'Falling enrolments, high fees threaten viability of Sydney’s Jewish schools'. SMH. Just like the rationalisation of Catholic schools in Ashfield, this story tells a lot.
• 'NSW to ‘chase and recruit’ public school teachers as private sector snaps up graduates'SMH.
• Trevor Cobbold has reviewedWaiting for Gonski. If you've read the book then many statements in the review might come as a surprise. Tom and I have responded to his review. The big plus is that this is all a long-overdue conversation.
• Chris Ho (in The Conversation) comments on recent changes to selective school entry ... reaching out to disadvantaged students.
• Interesting: 'Contagion effect’: Students choose unscored VCE in record numbers' The Age
• Three gems from The Conversation: 1. 'No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers', Nicole Mockler 2. 'Don’t expect schools to do all the heavy lifting to close the education divide between the big cities and the rest of Australia', John Halsey. 3. 'What does equity in schools look like? And how is it tied to growing teacher shortages?' Lucas Walsh.
• Trevor Cobbold and Pasi Sahlberg send their message about what equity is and how it sould be measured to the PC review of the NSRA.

MAY 2022

• 'Election 2022: no education minister and an opposition without a school funding policy' Tom Greenwell and I in Pearls and Irritations.
• 'Public Education Is in Crisis, but Who Cares?' Dan Hogan in Meanjin
• 'Put a timeline on it: Labor urged to detail school funding plans' SMH May 13.
• 'Plan for tenfold increase in top teachers within the next three years' SMH May 15. What's old is new again ...Don't bother, shift the deck chairs instead!
• 'Education goes missing in election action'. Jennifer Hewett in the AFR. It sure does! Also raising their eyebrows on this missing education issue are The Guardian, (watch this space). I offer Tom's and my priorities in John Menadue's current series 'If I were minister for ....'
• At last, Labor has a good idea: 'High achievers to get up to $12k a year to become teachers under Labor' Just observe the wry smiles on the faces of older and retired teachers! Also reported in The Guardian. As usual, Trevor Cobbold offers the sharpest commentary on Labor and schools.
• But some related matters haven't gone away, like the guerilla warfare in the Sydney Anglican schools and church over LGBTIQ kids etc. Issues come and go, but the culture wars go on forever.
• Two more reviews for Waiting for Gonski: by Rebecca Birch and by David Ferrell.

APRIL 2022

• 'If I was the Minister for Education, these are the three priority things I would do for schools' My contribution to a creative series of articles organised by John Menadue.
• 'Private schools received an extra $10bn funding in Coalition ‘special deals’, study finds' Outstanding work by Adam Rorris reported in The Guardian.
• Trevor Cobbold reports on the over-funding of NSW private schools, with a follow-up article in Peals and Irritations.
• ‘How are there so many perfect scores?’ IB results raise eyebrows. SMH. It is an inevitable outcome of an hierarchical system.
• Jenna Price (SMH) nails the wider problems facing the education sector.
• ‘Is this really fair?’ How high school students feel about being streamed into different classes based on ‘ability’. Olivia Johnston in The Conversation. No it's not fair, but the parallel identical separation of enrolments between schools is even less so on a national scale.
• Sue Thomson: 'Reversing Australia’s declining achievement a shared problem' in ACER Discover. The full article in Teacher magazine puts numbers around adjustments for student and school-level socioeconomic background. Revealing!

MARCH 2022

• Front page in the SMH: 'The 130 private schools over-funded by $120 million, research reveals', reporting on Adam Rorris' recent research for the NSWTF. How much is too much, and who is really counting?
• Interesting news and comments on the HSC etc. Comments from Jordan Baker and also a thoughtful perspective from from Dallas McInerney, head of CSNSW.
• Julie Szego (SMH) comments on the 'dud' Minister: 'School students tripping up on Australia’s uneven playing field'.
• 'If only politicians focused on the school issues that matter. This election is a chance to get them to do that'. Barnes, Hegart and Colber in The Conversation. Let's have more of this!
• 'Education Minister blames ‘dud teachers’ for declining education results' SMH ... also 'Stuart Robert says ‘dud teachers’ not an issue in Australia’s independent schools', The Guardian. Adrian Piccoli quoted in response: 'Minister’s ‘dud teachers’ claim is factually wrong and bad politics: Ex-NSW education minister'. SMH. Oh dear! Pots and kettles? Perhaps Stuart Robert is uniquely placed to recognise a 'dud'. For anyone interested, here is Robert's speech. And here is my 'Dud minister blames dud teachers' in Pearls and irritations.
• Tom Greenwell and I ask: 'What is the point of taxpayer funding of private schools?', Pearls and Irritations.
• ‘If they can’t afford it, find other sources’: Gonski calls to fully fund his reforms', SMH
• 'The Gonski ‘failure’: why did it happen and who is to blame for the ‘defrauding’ of public schools?' Adeshola Ore, The Guardian
• A story with a focus on 'preferred' schools: 'The public school that rejected 700 out-of-area applications last year' SMH....and yet another (reprinted in P&I from The Conversation) showing that 'Going to private school won’t make a difference to your kid’s academic scores'.
• A few news reports at the start of March tell a tale. 'Almost half of NSW’s year 1 students do not read as well as they should'. (SMH) An old problem, but apparently with a new solution. Watch this space. Then 'Schools in a ‘resources race’ for staff amid teacher shortages' (also SMH) includes an honest reflection from the head of Knox Grammar. Yes, it is an unlevel playing field.
• Ah, but some schools apparently ‘have the X-factor’ and the NSW Government wants to copy their success. An old stunt, never worked. Check the list of schools and the honest statement from one. Perhaps something else explains their success?

FEBRUARY 2022

• Waiting for Gonski, how Australia failed its schools, by Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor. Launch events, include Gleebooks in Sydney on March 1st...and at Harry Hartog bookseller in Canberra on March 9th, 6pm. Also 'Why Gonski was Always Going to Fail' in Education Today. Also our oped in The Canberra Times: 'Gonksi review 10 years on: Australian schools are in worse shape than ever' . The Guardian (Feb 28) has published an extract, and ABC News (online) has it as an expanded news item. First review comes from Rachel Wilson in The Conversation: 'Still 'Waiting for Gonski' – a great book about the sorry tale of school funding'.
• Related publicity includes 'Will schools now get back to normal? We have to do better than that' in Pearls and Irritations. Tom and Chris were interviewed by Geraldine Doogue on Saturday Extra. We also join the dots between school funding and wider issues (including money) in the Australian Financial Review.
• Trevor Cobbold restates the need to get the Gonski Review back on track.
• 'No other wealthy nation concentrates disadvantaged children into disadvantaged schools like Australia does.' Pasi Sahlberg and Adrian Piccoli in The Guardian.
• Gonski tenth birthday celebrations (?) See Ken Boston: 'Want to know why our schools keep lagging the world’s best?' SMH. Then Nine Media continued with Jordan Baker's 'No Gonski ‘nirvana’: Why Australia’s most ambitious education reforms have failed' just a day after a big conference on the same topic at the NSWTF.
• Relious schools and discrimination will be a lingering topic. Read Lyndsay Connors' 'An unholy mess: discrimination tangles up schools as well as everyone else'.
• Trevor Cobbold's latest post-Gonski working paper is now available. It addresses the immediate response by Labor in 2012-13. It is part of an invaluable series. Trevor has also just released new funding figures. Note more detailed account in The Guardian
• ‘Obscene greed’: WA’s priciest schools rake in fat JobKeeper profits' WA Today. This is one of the more substantial news reports created from Trevor Cobbold's substantial work on this issue.
• 'Majority of voters reject Coalition’s proposal to allow discrimination on basis of religious belief, poll suggests' The Guardian.
• 'The Australian school system has a serious design flaw. Can it change before it’s too late?' Pasi Sahlberg in The Guardian. This is a landmark article, an edited extract from Griffith Review 75: Learning Curves. Also be sure to read Helen Proctor's 'Climbing the opportunity ladder' in the same issue, and others including by Andrew Leigh and Gabbie Stroud.
• JANUARY 2022
• 'NSW private schools reaped $72 million in JobKeeper payments'SMH. A timely report on Trevor Cobbold's work.
• 'COVID-19 pandemic may not have been all bad for school students, study finds', ABC News.
• 'Revealed: the Sydney schools running out of space',SMH, Jan 4.
• 'Don't mind if we do: Victorian private schools deep in JobKeeper trough'. Trevor Cobbold in Pearls and Irritations.

DECEMBER 2021

• 'School fee rises keeping pace with Sydney house prices' Jordan Baker and Nigel Gladstone report in Nine Media.
• 'Mind the gap: what we should do about NAPLAN’s worrying report card' Jordana Hunter and Owain Emslie in the SMH.
• 'First, it’s not an instruction manual: 3 things education ministers need to know about the Australian Curriculum' from Emily Ross and Rachael Dwyer in The Conversation.
• The end of the school year may never be the same again. No pre-Christmas HSC/VCE etc results in the media. No league tables, heartwarming stories, beat-ups and beat-downs. How will we cope?
• The end of the school year may never be the same again. No pre-Christmas HSC/VCE etc results in the media. No league tables, heartwarming stories, beat-ups and beat-downs. How will we cope?
• 'Private school boys need to stop behaving badly', Julie Hare in the AFR. Julie is the best thing in the AFR since Tim Dodds years ago. Also from Julie in the AFR (December 12): 'Private education driving the global divide between rich and poor'.
• 'Revealed: Sydney schools with the highest-earning parents', Jordan Baker and Nigel Gladstone in the SMH. There is so much in this article, including implicit warnings that less public funding will see private school fees rise. The real constant is that their private funding and fees have risen cinsistently now for two decades.
• 'Kids and teachers deserve better than this crisis in the public school system' from Lyndsay Connors in Pearls and Irritations. For years, no, decades, Lyndsay has been best able to write the best 'cut through' commentary.

NOVEMBER 2021

• 'Yes, Australia’s PISA test results may be slipping, but new findings show most students didn’t try very hard', Stewart Riddle in The Conversation.
• Dean Ashenden reviews Glenn Savage's new book The Quest for Revolution in Australian Schooling Policy, just out. Dean's review is in Inside Story. 'Savage’s analysis of the inner workings of the education revolution' he says, 'is quietly devastating. But he urges a wider look at school system structures which also need to be reformed. Sounds like a good idea for a book ...
• Trevor Cobbold raises a 'Question Mark Over the Accuracy and Reliability of PISA Tests' and also has recent posts on wealthy schools pocketing JobKeeper funding, and provides another reminder why money still matters in school education.

SEPTEMBER 2021

One to read: 'Want to improve our education system? Stop seeking advice from far-off gurus and encourage expertise in schools' by Glenn Savage in The Conversation..... and here is the link to Glenn's book. The Quest for Revolution in Australian Schooling Policy. 

Great editorial in The Age: 'Religious schools discrimination law update merits bipartisan support', September 19. * ‘Sleight of hand’: Public schools get $3.5b less than original Gonski plan intended', Jordan Baker in the SMH.

JULY 2021

NOVEMBER 2020

OCTOBER 2020

• Significant report from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute: Educational opportunity in Australia - Who succeeds and who misses out. Reported in ABC News and the authors have followed up in The Conversation. It follows the first outstanding report in this series in 2015.
• 'To those that have more will be given: Education resource gaps in Australia'. Trevor Cobbold writes about the issues in his latest report. Nicely summed up by Trevor: The extent of the gaps is appalling
• 'How the lobbies hijacked school education' is a report by Lyndsay Connors and myself in Pearls and Irritations. It is one of the 'Lobbyland' series being compiled by John Menadue. A great series!
• Just out, a report by Adam Rorris for the AEU shows a mounting disaster - for government schools - in continuing the "Gonski 2.0" funding solution.

SEPTEMBER 2020

• Trevor Cobbold takes a closer look at the direct income measure of each (non-gov school) family's capacity to pay fees etc....something which determines public funding. But it is seriously flawed!
• Watch this series: Part 1 'Education policies over the decades have intensified socio-economic segregation' Lyndsay Connors in P&I. And Part 2, Society bears costs of education policy ‘crimes’
• 'How the Catholic school system takes from the poor to give to the rich' ABC News, Sept 2.This is a substantial and significant piece of investigative journalism. It has been going on for ages, but this report contains everything, including the smoking gun! More from Trevor Cobbold and from Alex Mitchell, plus my own take, all in Pearls and Irritations. Catholic school authorities have responded, but haven't fully addressed the matters raised in the ABC report. And another response, this time a fact check rebuttal from Catholic Schools NSW.
• 'The NAPLAN is trying to do too much. It needs urgent reform to be a ‘diagnostic’ test only' Venesser Fernandes in The Conversation.
• 'Thousands of NSW students never returned to school after lockdown'SMH. A disturbing report.

AUGUST 2020

• 'Parents want advice from teachers on how to raise their children, inquiry to hear' SMH. A report on the Valuing the Teaching Profesion Inquiry headed by Geoff Gallop.
• 'Push for NAPLAN to be expanded into new test for all students' SMH. One small step for 'man', one giant leap etc etc....that is, if it even happens!
• 'Wealth, not faith drives most Australian students to religious schools' SMH. Strange report: it doesn't match the headline and the research cited (and the survey it draws on) doesn't allow for SES differences between schools and sectors. Sloppy.
• Speaking of sloppy, try reading 'Where's the national outcry as schools go backwards?' Australian Financial Review. It falls short on many counts.
• This will put the pussy cat among the pigeons: 'Government 'should fully fund primaries' SMH reports on an idea from Adrian Piccoli....with an accompanying op ed from the former NSW minister. AND then an extended comment from Tom Greenwell in Inside Story: 'Should private primary schools be free?' Caitlin Fitsimmons follows up with an opinion. My opinion? I'm with anyone who kicks the door open to a debate about what we have at present.
• 'The bureaucratisation of public education in Australia' Read Trevor Cobbold's report in Pearls and Irritations, full document on the Save our Schools site.

JULY 2020

• Nothing like school vacations and a virus to dampen school news. But there are some gems. A report from Pivot provides a lot more on socioeconomic disparities in schooling created in recent months. The Gonski Institute for Education has issued a new policy brief: Equity in Australian Education: Achieving a brighter future for all young Australians. Also, Royce Kurmelovs has written up Trevor Cobbold's recent findings in The Saturday Paper. See 'Public schools still missing out on funding', July 11-17
• 'Catholic school systems to face more funding transparency' SMH July 6. Very topical, given Turnbull's revelations.

JUNE 2020

• And for the last day in June: 'Growth in money for private school students outstrips public schools' SMH and The Age report on Trevor Cobbold's latest.
• Significant: 'Future proofing Australian students with 'new credentials' Sandra Milligan further reports on the Beyond Atar project.
• And more on the technology gap: 'Public school students 2.5 times more likely to be without home internet' SMH.
• Students 'need $1.1 billion to close remote-learning gap' SMH. Grattan Institute's Julie Sonnemann costs the catch-up tutoring needed for disadvantaged kids these last three months. See the Grattan report. My response is 'Kids are back at school, but some have fallen well behind' in Pearls and Irritations.
• 'Turnbull Exposes Rorting of School Funding by Catholic Church'. Trevor Cobbold digs deeper into Turnbull's book. Michael Furtado, in Pearls and Irritations, provides a different perspective.
• 'Indigenous children among those making best gains in Naplan testing over decade' The Guardian. Good news amidst many non-significant NAPLAN trends.
• 'Education chief blames ATAR for 'profoundly distorting' final years of school' NESA Chair, Peter Shergold. Absabloodylutely!

MAY 2020

• Amidst all the virus news comes a timely broad view: 'How COVID-19 exposed the fault lines in Australian education' Jordan Baker in the Nine print media. And related to this: 'Full-time school to put extra pressure on transport, roads', a report which includes some startling facts.
• An excellent and unfolding recent history of school funding is being written by Trevor Cobbold. He has completed a draft for comment on the Abbott to Turnbull era. Trevor also reports on a New study shows that the social composition of schools strongly influences school results
• 'The Sydney schools exceeding new enrolment caps by almost 1000 students' Interesting table. SMH. My guess is that the over-subscribed schools are high ICSEA and the reverse for the under-subscribed.
• SMH reports: 'Mid-year school reports to go ahead, without controversial A-E grading' How on earth will everyone cope?!
• 'Catholic Church duplicitous and unaccountable in needs-based school funding says Malcolm Turnbull' Quentin Dempster in both the New Daily and P&I.
• 'How schools have become political pawns' Jane Caro in The Saturday Paper

APRIL 2020

• 'Federal payday gives NSW private schools reward to return to class' SMH April 29. Also in Guardian. At first sight this is just bringing forward some of next year's funding BUT my guess is that next year they'll (yet again) seek a one-off grant to help 'adjust'. So it is a problem!
• Much more evidence emerging on the equity impact of online learning, reported by ABC News and the SMH. Dorothy Hoddinott's piece in the SMH raises problems around the HSC.
• The virus has brought out wonderful writing about teachers and schools. The end of Craig Petersen's piece in the SMH should be displayed in every school foyer. And don't miss Lyndsay Connors' Learning the value of teachers' work in Pearls and irritations.....long memories combined with longstanding truths 'Independent schools demand federal government withdraws threat and guarantees ‘vital’ funding' Guardian, April 13. It seems that Christian Schools Australia isn't 'turning the other cheek'. 'Don't waste a good crisis, even in schooling' - Dean Ashenden points to some strutural reform possibilities in Inside Story... as do I in Pearls and Irritations. Tom Greenwell offers proof that we can do things differently: 'Why do Canada’s schools outperform Australia’s?' in Inside Story. The message of all three is simple: don't give the non-gov school sector any funding.

MARCH 2020

• 'Private schools brace for dropouts' and 'Catholic school fees to be waived for struggling families' Two recent stories in the SMH. More of this about Victorian schools in The Age. With day care being fully-funded is the non-gov school sector lobbying for a bail-out?
• 'Independent schools may ask for money to survive COVID-19 crisis' SMH. By any standards this is quite breathtaking! See Edu-fact check (left)
• 'Private schools 'not saving' the public purse' The SMH reports on some of the findings of The school money-go-round. Also, a cut-down version of The school money-go-round has just been published at Inside Story and an even shorter version in P&I. Not related, I'm sure is this story in the SMH: 'Private school funding under threat if schools close against government advice on coronavirus' But it isn't often that any Australian government threatens the non-gov sector. * Now I'm not an expert but....with 'schools and the virus: it’s not just an open-or-shut case' SMH March 20. And I'm kicking myself for not mentioning that schools with substantial personalised learning in place are perfectly placed.
• Watch the young public school girls on Q & A articulating the unfairness of school funding: https://twitter.com/QandA/status/1237157881138405376. How about this for double standards: NSW public schools get beaten up for not spending all their funding but the '$1.2 billion private school 'choice fund' can be used as investment nest egg' (SMH). Meanwhile 'An arms race for prestige': The billion-dollar private school building boom' Hmmm.
• More unfolding on the looming end of the 'Prague Spring' in NSW schools. Following the NSW Premier's announcements the Minister (Sarah Mitchell) has waded in with more detail. The reaction from principals and others soon followed. Then the Minister backtracked a tad, saying it wasn't about punishing schools. Then back to the Premier who says schools need to earn their 'independence'. My contribution is in P&I. One thing is sure: meaningless, unproven and counter-productive measures of school quality are back! Meanwhile, non-government schools who manage to avoid such unproductive accountability are set for a multibillion-dollar funding boost. And to spend as they wish. Who is really watching the elites?
• In the Conversation Helen Proctor and Jessica Gerrard show how More money for private schools won’t make Australia’s education fairer, no matter how you split it . This article comes at the same time as Trevor Cobbold's latest analysis: 'Private schools continue to have a massive resource advantage over public schools'.
• The problems around school funding just don't go away, and also in public schools, it seems: 'Sydney schools sitting on up to $5000 in unspent money per student'. This little beat-up has emerged every few years for over two decades....read the full article.

FEBRUARY 2020

• 'Tanya Plibersek cites 'visible inequality' at schools in call for fair education funding' The Guardian. Mostly soothing, but what has really changed?
• If you want a headline or two put on a summit. That's worked for the SMH today Feb 20. Sydney University's Rachel Wilson has deservedly stolen the show with her op ed ''Your country needs you!' It's high time for a drive to recruit better teachers' as well as the SMH report on this topic. The SMH also reports on the NSW Premier's keynote: 'Premier says status quo 'no longer tenable' in schools, flags reforms' but SMH editor Lisa Davies gently pours a bit of cold water over hasty ideas. Mark Latham, take note! Fun and games. Chris Bonner's longer response is in P&I. The Australian February 12, reports on former Macquarie Group chief executive, Nicholas Moore as the new chair of the National Catholic Education Commission. He replaces former South Australian Labor eduction minister and lobbyist, Greg Crafter . Again from Trevor Cobbold and well-reported in the media, a new research paper (based on OECD) on the poor allocation of teacher and other resources to low SES schools.

JANUARY 2020

It's January: the awful fires running through the school vacation have seen most other stories take a back seat, but here are a few:

• Trevor Cobbold has issued a short paper following a recent call to end exemptions for private schools in paying local government rates....untouched business arising from clear misuse of charitable status.* Also, another top read from Tom Greenwell 'Less choice, less affordability, the private school subsidy paradox' - in Inside Story.

JUNE 2019