Paper Calls for the Introduction of School Vouchers

The Australian, 20 July 2009; The Australian, 21 July 2009; The Australian, 21 July 2009

The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has released a paper that has called for the introduction of a school voucher funding system.

The A Real Education Revolution: Options for Voucher Funding Reform paper, by IPA research fellow Julie Novak, claimed that ‘the federal government's education revolution perpetuates the waste, inefficiency and perverse incentives that come with funding micromanagement’. It also argued that a system whereby government funding was provided to individual students rather than the school that they attended would encourage greater choice in education, improve academic outcomes and would be popular with parents.

The paper indicated that ‘by separating government financing of education from the operation of schools, vouchers can help break down monopoly control over school services delivery and promote competition between government and non-government schools. As has been increasingly understood by both sides of the political fence, vouchers represent a powerful tool to tackle educational disadvantage. This is because parents of children with special education needs, or from low-income families, are financially empowered to take their children out of failing schools and into high-quality educational institutions.’

The paper investigated a range of options, including a universal voucher system and various vouchers that targeted particular groups of disadvantaged students. Ms Novak stated that ‘if you want to tackle education disadvantage, which is what Education Minister Julia Gillard is keen to do, you may want to bundle up a disability-targeted voucher with an indigenous-targeted voucher. That would be less expensive than a universal voucher, but has the added benefit that it tackles education disadvantage so students in those groups have the potential to attend high-quality, high-achievement schools.’

Ms Novak also indicated that the use of targeted vouchers would act as an effective trial for a broader voucher scheme and would represent ‘the most realistic policy potential in Australia’. She stated that her proposal would be ‘good for parents, great for students’, but acknowledged that the proposal would lead to ‘some reluctance among some of the entrenched interests’.

Go to the Institute of Public Affairs website to access a copy of the paper.

 

 

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