SURVEYS

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Family CarERS  SURVEY 

• Consolidate all existing commonwealth and state school funding programs in a student-based funding entitlement allocated to parents. Parents will be enabled to take their child’s entitlement to a school of their choice. This Student-Based Funding Entitlement (SBFE) would be a fixed dollar entitlement for every primary school student, with a slightly higher dollar entitlement for every secondary student, allocated directly to parents. The base SBFE would be supplemented by an additional entitlement for educational and social disadvantage.
          

• Require all schools (public and private) to meet benchmarks on inclusion of students with social and educational disadvantages in order to be eligible to receive SBFE funds. Amongst the benchmarks will be a requirement that a fixed percentage of enrolled students in every school are students who have a learning, developmental or behavioural difficulty. Schools which meet these benchmarks may adopt their own fee schedules to supplement SBFE entitlements up to a maximum fee of $12,000. Schools which do not meet these benchmarks will not be eligible to receive public funds through SBFE entitlements.
          

• Structure the Supplementary SBFE entitlements for educational and social disadvantage in such a way that schools will compete to attract students with learning and developmental deficits and behavioural difficulties, with additional financial incentives for achievement of performance-based outcomes with these students.
          

• Allow all schools greater flexibility in determining curriculum (beyond core components), their preferred educational and organizational philosophy, and their preferred reporting mechanisms to parents.
          

• Allow schools in the public system to hire and fire staff as they see fit.
          

• Allow schools in the public system to adopt a Charter defining their educational philosophy, social and cultural values, curriculum and structure as they see fit. Charter schools would be given additional flexibilities in educational, governance, management and financial operations.
          

• Enable schools which are state owned to voluntarily transfer their educational leadership and management to non-government entities (foundations, community organizations, teacher co-operatives, parent entities). Following a ten year probationary period under such arrangements, schools may transfer their ownership to these not-for-profit bodies.

• Make it easier for parent entities to establish new schools with their preferred educational philosophies and leadership.
          

• Support the establishment of a Parent School Information Service to provide comparative online data on schools, school performance, school values and cultures. School co-operation with this Service will be made a requirement for receipt of SBFE funds.
          

• Introduce a Lifelong Learning Account for all students at the age of 18 with an initial public allocation of $8,000 to be used for ongoing learning through university, TAFE, ACFE, workplace or arts-based programs, administered by a network of Account Holders as high-yield investment instruments. Students, families, employers and philanthropists may make supplementary deposits in this Account, but withdrawals may be made only for authorized educational expenditures.

People Power Schools Policy Contact : Vern Hughes  
     
        

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