Funding Issue in Victorian Schools

[Dapuccino]

There's been a problem recently where schools in Victoria (I'm pretty sure)  are getting less funding because of the governments circumstances (I'm not entirely sure what's going on) but it has a major impact on the schools. I know one of the schools in my area has to join more classes together because there is not enough teachers because of the funding issue. I'm always get stressed about the school I'm going to, its a middle class government school and I would say comparing it to other schools, its a alright school-the building are old, teachers are okay (language teacher sucks), resources are not the best, so much technology rather than textbooks (I hate that) and the people are nice . But I always think about the disadvantaged schools how they are going to be impacted. I would say the more upper class schools won't have to worry about this even if they do, they can always do tuition classes to get back ahead. I've been reading articles and apparently 62% of advantaged students get into selective schools and only a small percentage of from a disadvantaged background actually get into the school. Probably because of the tuition they have been doing for years and going to a good primary school. I feel like your social class really impacts your education and when it impacts your education it impacts your life. What do you guys think? I feel like the Victorian education system is failing. It really irritates me to see other countries get ahead of us. I heard that out of 41 middle class countries, we are 39. And I'm pretty jelly that the upper class people can afford to go to private schools...even though people always debate about government or private, private schools really do provide more opportunities (travel and they can afford better resources and definitely teachers-teachers are unpaid in government schools.) Tell me what your thoughts are on this issue.

[EEEEEEP]

I feel like your social class really impacts your education and when it impacts your education it impacts your life. What do you guys think?

I think social class isn't that important in the bigger scheme of things. 

People  don't care what class you come from at uni or at work or whatever. High school, is only one stepping stone.

Funding, yeah it's an issue but it shouldn't be the end all for one to succeed.

It is a common sentiment that Vic and Aus's education in general is failing, but that's only because they  rate education systems on tests that promote rote learning.  As it has been written about here,,, https://theconversation.com/straight-a-students-may-not-be-the-best-innovators-54440

[Calebark]

I think social class isn't that important in the bigger scheme of things. 

People  don't care what class you come from at uni or at work or whatever. High school, is only one stepping stone.

What about in the context of SES status? Surely that's a darn big influence on your growth as a character (in terms of your experiences + influences) and some opportunites available to you at a young age.

[Aaron]

Of course private schools provide more opportunities. When parents are paying $25-30k a year to send their child to x or y school (add on government funding which they still get), vs a public one where they pay at most $1k a year (+ very minimal/often continually-reduced funding which is determined by the student resource standard, essentially school enrolment numbers).

I believe tech has really helped bridge the gap between ed inequality (well, a bit at least), sites such as Khan Academy allow anyone with an internet connection to high quality materials to pretty much most topics (as one example.. many more out there).

You will find that it does not matter what kind of school you go to, teaching quality is hit and miss. Some are really great, and you've got some that have gone way past their expiry date.

While private schools have many more resources, I believe it's what the teacher does with the available resources that makes the biggest difference. Having observed schools in both the public and private systems, I have witnessed some shocking teaching in the area of IT (in BOTH systems).

I think social class isn't that important in the bigger scheme of things.

People  don't care what class you come from at uni or at work or whatever. High school, is only one stepping stone.

Yes.. but in order to access these things (e.g. work, uni etc), you require education (and mind you, a decent one). There are so many considerations that should be taken into account regarding this. The school I am currently at, some students have trouble paying for books and don't have an internet connection at home. This alone illustrates an inequality that is still very much present in education. So social class/social status is very much an important issue.

A determination and willingness to seek out opportunity will overpower any "class". The divide between resourcing in the public/private space will not change in the near future, and probably never will. Like you said OP, funding.. and it isn't getting any better.

I would invite anyone who thinks social status "isnt that important" to step into a seriously disadvantaged SES school for a week to view the challenges that are faced. Because I am telling you right now (especially if you have had the luxury/benefit of a wonderful education with accessibility to resources and opportunities), they are there.

[vox nihili]

I haven't had an opportunity to read all the answers here, but I just want to establish three facts:


1. Socio-economic status is the single best predictor of how someone will do at school...so the idea that SES doesn't matter is simply untrue.
2. Social mobility is decreasing
3. Students are increasingly segregated into schools based on their class

[Bri MT]

I think social class isn't that important in the bigger scheme of things. 

People  don't care what class you come from at uni or at work or whatever. High school, is only one stepping stone.

Funding, yeah it's an issue but it shouldn't be the end all for one to succeed.

I understand why you might hold this view, and I do think that some students do well despite coming from a disadvantaged background, but I do think that social class has a significant impact.

The ability to access resources, even free ones, varies with SES. Not very one at my school has internet accessing very, very few can consider tutoring. This makes a difference. Some people here have to work to support their families financially. This makes a difference.

Some resources are less tangible. Specialist maths isn't run here, nor is English language. Our year 12 physics class very nearly didn't run this year; there won't be one next year.

I don't begrudge the school this, they have to consider what will bring the most benefit to the most students. I like my school, but there's a reason why we're always on the under represented list

Tell me it's just a coincidence that in the past 3 years we haven't had a single student get a 90+ ATAR   and that this has nothing to do with SES (We have 3 VCE home groups  and 2 VCAL). Tell me that this doesn't impact how well high school can be used as a stepping stone.

[zofromuxo]

I’ll keep my response short or else spawns a 3-page essay filled with research, articles and angry rhetoric by your truly.
I have seen and watched how social class can cripple or push you above it. I can’t describe how depressing it is and my heart goes to the “good” teachers stuck teaching there trying to improve them. 
I think anyone that says Social class doesn’t affect students needs to get off their high horse and/or elephant tower and live in a school in a low socioeconomic status area. It is tough, it is depressing, it makes me feel guilty and makes me realise how grateful I was for the education I have. Trust me ask any teacher who teaches there, most of them get sad about it and really hate talking about it. My teacher from primary school cried for the 30 minutes she was telling me about working there and seeing all the students she couldn’t help no matter what she did, the teachers and administration that let the students rot and suffer in their poor social status. 
Funding is always thrown out as the big solution to this problem, but I strongly disagree funding can’t solve it all and it won’t. It can solve a huge portion of the social class issue, but not all of it for that to happen it comes down to the parents. I watch as my friend, who told me the story of two of his older sibling. His sister who got out of their social-class and who hasn’t looked back since and his brother who got trapped by the social-class. How did the sister get out and the brother didn’t? Simple, the sister got support and the brother didn’t. This isn’t a gendered issue at all, it could have been reversed. I just don’t think funding is the end all for this issue. You need to support these kids in social class through telling them they can get out and give them the infrastructure to do it.
But moving from education and into careers, even then if you’re from a poor social class, you’re going to struggle. The motto “It’s Not what you know, but who you know” is becoming more prevalent in the workforce, which is something low socioeconomic status doesn’t have compared to higher up socioeconomic status.

 I’ll be interested to hear if any teachers on AN have any opinions on this and what I wrote because as a teacher I’m sure you can explain the behind the scenes of these schools, then a student can.