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It must be back-to-school season. The shops are full of displays for sensible shoes and lunchboxes, my kids are starting to complain about being bored, and letters are arriving from schools asking parents to pay fees.
To be clear, these letters aren’t just from private schools. Public school parents are also being asked for payments that can run to many hundreds of dollars per child. These fees go towards a range of items and could include stationery, excursions or other resources. While payments are voluntary, there can be a lot of pressure on families to pay, Emma Rowe writes.
These voluntary payments can differ wildly between advantaged and disadvantaged areas, effectively giving public schools in wealthier areas greater access to funds.
Rowe acknowledges some parents may be happy to pay these fees, but says the bigger issue is that public schools should be accessible to everyone and resourced fairly and properly, adding: “At the moment, our funding system is not meeting the bare minimum agreed targets, and therefore it is unsurprising costs are being passed to parents.”
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Judith Ireland
Education Editor
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Emma Rowe, Deakin University
As Australian families prepare for term 1, many will receive letters from their public schools asking them to pay fees.
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