2001 LETTER TO THE EDITOR
organised by PGR

As John Ralston Saul so eloquently states: "Public Education is the single most important element in the maintenance of a democratic system. Highly sophisticated elites are the easiest and least original thing a society can produce. The most difficult and the most valuable is a well educated populace".

We write to express our disappointment at both the Federal Government's failure to redress the inequitable funding of public schools in the recent budget, and the Opposition's inadequate response to this issue .

70% of Australian children attend public schools, yet these schools receive only one third of the Federal Government's education budget.

We therefore call on all political parties to :-

1/ increase public education expenditure to at least 5.1% of GDP, which is the country mean in the 2000 OECD report comparing education expenditure internationally (where Australia at 4.3% was ranked 24th out of 28 countries).

2/ replace the SES (Socio-Economic Status) Index with a fairer indicator of a school’s neediness, one which includes the resources, assets and income of a school instead of just parental postcode samples.

3/ restore an assessment mechanism for new private schools, to ascertain whether there is sufficient demand for them before they receive Federal funding.

We demand fairness in education funding, and call on political parties to create a public education system worthy of the title "clever country" or "knowledge nation".

Nat Young
Catherine McClements
Paul Jennings
Kathy Lette
Kate Grenville
Philip Adams
Heather Carmody
Julian Burnside
Assoc. Prof. Lawrence Angus
John Armstrong
Dr Arumugam
Tim Bass
Assoc. Prof. Wendy Bacon
Assoc. Prof. Jill Blackmore
Andrew Bovell
James Bradley
Sharan Burrow
Mickey Camilleri
Jane Caro
Michael Cathcart
Santo Cilauro
Dr Andrew Cochrane
Dr Cherry Collins
Eva Cox
Mary Crooks
Dur -e Dara
David Day
Daryl Dellora
Anne Deveson
Dr Patricia Edgar
Dr Chris Eipper
Dr Julie Evans
Assoc. Prof. Lesley Farrell Prof.Peter Fensham
John Flaus
Hon. J Fogarty
Richard Frankland
Alice Garner
Lindsay Gaze
Jutta Goetze
Eliza Greenhatch
Prof. Pat Grimshaw
Prof. Shirley Grundy
Paul Harris
Tracy Harvey
Dr Jenny Hocking
Julian Hill
John Howard
Linda Jaivin
Phil Johnson
Bev Killick
Christopher Koller
Ellen Koshland
Julia Leigh
Dr Chris McAuliffe
James McCaughey
AO Meme McDonald
Jen McVeity
Prof. Stuart Macintyre
Julie Marlow
Andrew Masterson
QC Mark Mitchell
Tom Moloney
Sally Morrison
Lewis Miller
Dr Martha Morrow
Helen Mutkins
Clive O’Connell
Ian Pidd
Genevieve Picot
Barbara Preston
Sian Prior
Roy Punshon SC
Rod Quantock
Hannie Rayson
Prof. Stuart Rees
Assoc. Prof. Alan Reid
Prof. Margaret Reynolds
John Ruane
Gareth Sansom
David Scott AO
Denise Scott
Dr June Senyard
Melanie Shanahan
Rhonda Small
Kristin Stegley
Charmaine Taylor
Peter Temple
Assoc. Prof. Pat Thomson
Charles Zika
Judith Walker
Crabbe Chris Warner
Dr Tim Woodruff
Assoc. Prof. Johanna Wyn
Megan Williams
Jeanette Wilson
Bernhard Sachs

Paul Kelly
Sigrid Thornton
Morris Gleitzman
Steve Biddulph
Robert Dessaix
AO Prof. Dennis Altman
Robyn Annear
QC Assoc. Prof.Verity Burgmann
Yvonne Allen
Dr Banu Arumugam
Assoc. Prof. Su Baker
Francesca Bass
John Birmingham
Meryl Andrews
Prof. Anne Boyd
Mal Brynning
Tom Burstall
Leslie Cannold
Robert Carter
Jon Cattapan
Dr Fiona Cochrane
Liz Colbert
Lyndsay Connors
Glenda Crawford
Jo Crawford
Kimberley Davenport
Michelle de Kretser
Assoc. Prof. John Lack
AO Kate Durham
Dr Don Edgar
Prof. Sol Encel Nick Enright
Kaarin Fairfax
Dr Anne Feeney
Alan Fletcher
AM Mem Fox
Helen Garner
Helen Gaynor
Lynda Gibson
Julian Golby
Andy Griffiths
Dick Gross
Tom Hardy
Julia Hamer
Prof. Kevin Hart
Dr Christine Healy
Shane Higgs
Stephanie Holt
Prof. Andrea Hull
Assoc. Prof. Thomas Jobling
Dr Jenny Jobst
Prof. Adrian Pagan
Jacek Koman
Anna Lanyon
Amanda Lohrey
Maureen McCarthy
Jean McCaughey
Leverne McDonnell
Prof. Peter McPhee
Shane Maloney
Sue Maslin
Chris Maxwell l
Jacqueline Mitelman
Mirka Mora
Rosslynd Piggott
Ann Morrow
Rhys Muldoon
Emma O’Connell
Stephen Page
Bruce Petty
Joan Pollock
Prof. Margot Prior
Boori Pryor
Dr Frank Purcell
Matthew Quartermaine
Prof. Beryl Rawson
Jill Reichstein
Henry Reynolds
Prof. Sue Richardson
Gig Ryan
Margaret Schofield OAM
Anna Schwartz
Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt
Prof. Pasquale Sgro
Prof. John Smyth
Assoc. Prof. Andy Spaull
Shirley Sydenham
Assoc. Prof. Richard Teese
Jack Thomson
Prof. Tony Townsend
Dennis Tupicoff
Chris Wallace
Tony Watts
Prof. Elizabeth Webby
Peter Weiniger
Chris Wilson
John Wolseley

Melbourne City Mission
ASL (Australian Schools Lobby)
Federation of Parents and Citizens Association, NSW
Parents Victoria
Parents Choosing Public Education
Parents Against Large Class Sizes
Priority Public
PGR (Parental Guidance Required)
The Tasmanian Council of State School Parents & Friends Association
VICCSO (Victorian Council of School Organisations)
AGPPA (Australian Government Primary Principals Association)
AEU (Victorian Branch)
NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union)
NUS (National Union of Students)

Organised by PGR, a parents public education group
and a member of TPPE, the Turning Point for Public Education coalition.

ADDITIONALLY
John Bell
Toni Colette
Julie Copeland
Denis Feeney
Prof. John Powers
Youth Affairs Council, Victoria
ACSSO (Australian Council of State School Organisations)
VAEAI (Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated)