I have had a few discussions on private schooling in Australia, and many arguments too, especially about the funding of private schooling Australia.
Some people refer to the private schools being subsidised by the taxpayer, while others say the private schooling system subsides the taxpayer.
That is a matter for long and complex discussions and spreadsheets to prove the point..
But I came up with a simple explanation:
If you have 3 million kids in state schools, and the government (taxpayer) covers the full cost of $10,000 per year each, then the total cost is $30,000,000,000.
If all these children went to Private schools, and the government (taxpayer) covers half the cost of $10,000 per year each, then the total cost is $15,000,000,000.
Logic then says that the more children in private schools = less cost to the taxpayer.
Some explanations if needed:
How many school students are there in Australia?
http://foi.deewr.gov.au/documents/review-funding-schooling-how-many-school-students-are-there-australia
Education Category Advert
2,290,439 State Schools
1,189,629 Independent Schools
3,480,068 Total (2009)
I did some calculations on this in 2010, with results at:Â www.abcdiamond.com/australia/the-cost-of-private-education-in-australia. I just found it again while searching for the actual government education costs per child.
Based on current figures, the cost per taxpayer, for the education cost per child is:
- $2,707 per year. Based on the current spread of State/Independant school numbers
If ALL children were in state schools the would be:
- $3,124 per year.
If ALL children were in Independent schools the cost per taxpayer would be:
- $1,905
It does appear that it is better for the taxpayer if more children are in the independent schools, and the total cost to the taxpayer is reduced.
Useful links:
http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn106.pdf