BY NOREEN NAVIN
SYDNEY — On July 7, delegates attending the NSW Teachers Federation's annual conference toured the most elite private schools in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The tour exposed the extent of federal and state government subsidisation of private schools following the proclamation late last year of the states grants act.
The tour also took in three of the public schools targeted for "disposal" under the NSW Labor government's "Building the Future" proposal. Those public schools, located near the wealthiest private schools, are the Vaucluse, Dover Heights and Maroubra high schools.
Teachers, parents and students are opposed to the closure of these schools. At a BBQ at Maroubra High School at the end of the bus tour, parents vowed to continue the fight against the closures.
The state government has claimed that the school closures are necessary in order to make the school system more "efficient". But surely it is more efficient to spend money providing equal education for all? What the Carr and Howard governments are actually doing is handing money to schools that cater almost exclusively for the wealthy. This has the twin effect of forcing some working-class parents to pay for their children's education, and denying others access to any nearby school.
A quick look at the state government's school funding figures indicates the depth of the problem.
Cranbrook School — which has graduated such leading humanitarians as Gary Adler, Jodee Rich and James Packer — charges annual fees of between $6606 and $11,259. Even if you can pay the fees, entry to Cranbrook is limited, and it has only 1200 students.
This year, Cranbrook received $1.2 million from the federal government and (based on 1999 figures) a further $700,000 from the state government. Under the state grants system, this will increase to $2.5 million by 2004.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the changes is Scots College. Scots currently receives $2 million in government funding for its 1300 students, whose parents pay $13,272 a year. The government subsidy is set to increase to a whopping $3 million.
It's not just the boys schools either. Kambala Girls, briefly attended by one of the Cruise/Kidman offspring (parents assets worth $440 million), receives a total of $1.3 million in government funding, increasing to $2.2 million by 2004.
Nor is it just Christian schools. Yeshiva College in Dover Heights recently took over the site formerly occupied by a public school and a TAFE college. Prior to the sale, the grounds were upgraded at public expense. Yeshiva has less than 500 students, whose parents pay $7500 for the privilege of having their children attend the school. It receives around $1.9 million in government funding, set to increase to $2.3 million.