Whats the difference between private schools and public schools?

Well, an obvious difference is that private schools have autonomy (which is independence) from the government, while public schools are run by the government. We all may have heard about the excellence and prestige of these private schools that have everything, where their academic levels are so high above public schools, it is no wonder these private schools get so much attention for the wrong reasons. In the past decade, the Howard government introduced a school funding model where the federal government allocates funding to private schools based on the socio-economic status of a school community. Schools that draw students from higher status areas receive lower levels of funding than those from lower status areas. However, the Howard government promised that no school would be worse off under its system, so 1083 schools have had their funding entitlements maintained. Recently the school funding model is currently being reviewed which released information about the how much each student is being funded by the government. The controversy this information show us that private schools are being overfunded by the government, creating heated debate on this issue, should the government fund private schools? I dont think so; its for the needy not the greedy. The government should not fund these private schools where the funds could go to schools that desperately need it to provide better and extra resources. This funding could be spent on supporting public schools to help students who are either indigenous, disabled, poor, rural, refugee or migrants and give them a better education they deserve. Where special needs schools require more funds to help children who do not live in well to do families but are struggling families that cannot handle the pressure of finances or who are refugees from war torn countries and speak little English. Disadvantage children deserve this funding as much as state students, where two-thirds of the majority of deprived and denied students come from public schools however receives only one third of federal funding states ABC News. This extra funding could go to some state schools that have to fundraise in order to pay their power bills or to have better whiteboards and equipment in classrooms. At Apollo Bay Secondary School, ceilings are falling in and walls are rotting, but they have had to wait a decade for a new building. This is another example of schools that need to have extra funding to improve the quality of equipment, buildings and resources, where as private schools like Geelong Grammar where they have four campuses in Victoria, where they have an indoor sports centre, swimming pool, medical facility centre, horse riding and oh Prince Charles attended there, how terrific. Do they really need extra funding from the government? I mean, are they in dire need of assistance, struggling with financial shortages? No, they are not. These private schools dont have disadvantage children in their systems as public schools do. I mean, do you think private schools cater to disadvantaged children? Do you think private sector would ruin their outstanding reputations? The disadvantaged children would most likely feel ostracized and unwelcomed by their students. So why should private schools be funded by the government? If the government stops funding private schools, this funding could go to public schools and help boost achievement scores. Right now, there is a large achievement gap between rich and poor in Australia's schools. The average 15-year-old student from a low-social economic status family is two to three years behind his or her highSES counterparts. An average low-SES 15-year-old student in a severely disadvantaged school is about 3 years behind his or her high-SES peer in a school of mostly high-income families, states Trevor Cobbold from The Sunday Age(16/01/2011). This is a huge achievement gap between the private schools and public schools, where we dont stand a chance against these colossal giants. This extra funding could be used to improve the quality of learning for

state students, giving us a glimmer of hope to stand a fighting chance against private school students who already have the necessities to achieve by the touch of the button. By reducing this gap, eliminating inequality in education would boost productivity and it would also reduce the costs of healthcare, social security and crime just by getting a good quality education, from The Age. So many brilliant benefits if the government stops funding private schools, dont you think? That in the long run, it benefits the government and the greater society including you and I, doesnt it? A huge problem about this funding is that private schools were funded well over their socio economic funding, a social injustice in our society. Hard working taxpayers who pay for wealthy private schools, and they pay quite a fair bit from this data from the Sydney morning herald and The Age, where the estimated overfunding is around the $4064-2355. The most shocking thing of all is that in Dr McMorrows, an honorary associate professor of education at the University of Sydney and former public policy adviser, report on the federal funding budget, states that private schools will receive $47 billion in total and public schools $35 billion for building, equipment and running costs over the four year cycle. Surprising? What really is astounding is that the commonwealth funding for public schools is projected to increase by $2.1 billion, or 80 per cent, over the four years to 2012-13 where for non-government schools is projected to rise by $2.8 billion, or 50 per cent, source from the Brisbane times and Dr McMorrows review on federal funding. So little money for the state schools, like Gilmore, who teach two thirds of Australias children and they get more? Taxpayers, who work hard for their well earned money and to what? Support rich private schools where parents are already paying thousands of dollars to send their children to get a separate and exclusive education, away from disadvantage students in public schools. That these private schools get special treatment and taxpayers as well as public schools suffer? Although if the government stops funding private schools every child should get an equal opportunity and that means equal funding. Parents who send their children to private schools will have to pay more tuition if there is no federal funding and costs will rise as inflation rises. Amazingly private catholic schools redistributed extra funds to help disadvantaged and needy schools, great right? Well if the private catholic schools did not have the federal funds in the first place, the needy and disadvantage schools would get that financial resource and even more as the private catholic schools use some of that money for their self indulgence first then redistribute it. Parents who do pay the fees of private schools choose to send their children there, no one else but themselves and they should know the risks of paying such high fees where they could simply send them to public schools that would have better resources if the government stops funding. Children in private schools will always have an advantage against public schools, greater facilities, quality of education because they pay for this education, never forget that, so they expect the best and throw out the worst. Private schools should not be funded by the government. By not funding private schools, this extra funding could help disadvantage students who come from low socio economic backgrounds, improve the quality of learning in public schools, to close the achievement gap between the two systems where the taxpayers money is put to better use. A solution could be that private and Catholic schools that position themselves as special schools for students who come from affluent background should become truly independent and self-supporting if they are offering a specialist curriculum.