There will be no quick or easy way to redesign the existing school system.

I would be faced with a school system where many schools give students an engaging and effective education largely owing to the dedication of teachers and school leaders… and despite a hybrid system of public and private schools that is negatively geared to fuel socio-economic division and decrease overall achievement levels.

I would start by giving immediate priority to growing concentrations of advantage and disadvantage and to the supply, quality and distribution of teaching.

Concentrations of advantage and disadvantage are significantly, though not entirely, attributable to a system with a disproportionate share of the heavy lifting left to the public schools which have been persistently under-resourced in terms of the agreed Schooling Resource Standard.

Late last year, the Albanese Government passed legislation to fix the Commonwealth share of recurrent funding for public schools at a minimum of 20%; and to enable the Commonwealth to increase this share where there is an agreement in place.  Following agreements with states and territories, the government has since announced it would provide 25% of that standard over the next 10 years.

As minister, I would propose an immediate amendment to the Australian Education Act to make it a minimum of 25%. This would make it harder for a future government over that decade to revert to the lesser 20% minimum.  Public education systems and schools need confidence and security to plan for reforms necessary in a changing world.

My next priority would be addressing the primacy of teaching in raising student achievement levels. This would require a strategy for working with my counterparts in the states and territories to develop a national approach, which should include a clearer role for the Commonwealth.

The teaching force is now a public national asset.

Except in the highest-fee private schools, all the nation’s teachers are now directly or indirectly on the public payroll.  Commonwealth recurrent funding for private schools exceeds the full costs of staffing for that sector overall. Under this system, taxpayers fund teacher salaries for schools where it is not needed for this purpose, allowing funds to be channelled into excessive capital expenditure while many public schools lack the decent facilities appropriate to teachers’ professional status and the expectations of parents.

The Commonwealth is well-placed to work with states and territories to decide how to spend this funding in more efficient and effective ways. Through its role in higher education, it could play a more effective and complementary role in the selection, initial education and career development of teachers and could strengthen the links between research, theory and the craft of teaching.

The Commonwealth could also examine whether there should be a more systemic, national approach among universities to providing initial teacher education as well as a policy for regulating the distribution of teachers.

The greatest challenge I would face is to prepare the ground for redesigning the school system, building on work already done in the recent Better and Fairer Schools initiative. I would work on building a clearer, shared understanding of the fundamental purposes of schooling and where it fits in the broader concept of education. My aims would be to build community consensus around the vision of a school system based on collective, rather than individualistic, values, a system fit for purpose and to promote open discussion about the government role in schooling. Maybe I’m envisaging a contemporary form of the stimulus provided by the 1973 Karmel report, Schools in Australia.

For a start, I would need to remind anxious parents that it is in the best interests of their own child for every child in this country to have the best possible schooling. I would also be tempted to deliver a few home truths in the inner circles of government. Take slogans such as “no-one held back and no-one left behind”. In real life, there are times when some may need to be held back to protect those who would otherwise be left behind.

At the personal level, the minister’s role would bring not only excitement and opportunities but also deep anxiety. I know we have a system where many forces pull in opposite directions and it must be more intelligently designed to produce better and fairer outcomes. But I worry that I lack a clear and comprehensive grasp of the school system’s logistics. This anxiety is added to by a fear that I am not alone and that, without that understanding, we will have a school system that fails to fulfil its democratic purposes.

I would bring forward for discussion with my colleagues and my department a “To Do” list that to help schools’ policy directions and options, and assist in asking the right questions.

It would include the following:

Development of an interactive digital map of the movements of public and private funding (recurrent and capital); of students; and of teachers since 2000.  It would help clarify the complex effects of market forces on the system. 

Research into the contribution of “neighbourhood” effects on creating concentrations of advantaged and disadvantaged schools. This would help clarify how much of the problem arises from schooling policies compared to other areas of public policy, such as housing.

Research into the extent and the financial costs of excess places in the school system. This could examine variations in teacher-student ratios among schools in local/regional areas and could include case studies plus modelling. It would help inform future policy for a fairer and more educationally productive distribution of teachers.

Research into the affordability of schooling to families. A potential source is the ABS survey of household expenditure. The aim would be to identify how much families are spending on education for school-age children and the variation across different income groups. From the same data source, one could also understand the relationship between school fees charged by private schools and the percentage of families able to pay these fees.

Legal advice on primary obligation. There is doubt about governments’ obligation to provided free, secular, public schooling in a democracy. This is the only way to ensure universal education. In Australia, the legal obligation for this rests with states and territories. As minister, I would seek legal advice on how this principle can be included in Commonwealth schools’ legislation.

As minister, I would be aware of past lessons. In the absense of appropriate processes to guide actions needed in the short-, medium- and long=term, governments react in a knee-jerk fashion.

The Labor Government’s decision to set up the Australian Tertiary Education Commission indicates a possible return to a more open and responsible approach. ATEC will be an independent steward for the higher education system, and create a better and fairer tertiary education system that delivers for all involved. A similar structure is needed for schools, with education leaders and experts involved along with a consultative body for interest groups. Without proper parent and community feedback, irresponsible chat groups will take over.  And for-profit tech companies, rather than educators, will start deciding how AI is to be used in schools. As minister, I would adopt the use of Green papers and White papers to stimulate discussion that would improve governmental decisions.

I feel a sense of guilt over neglecting opportunities to fight harder for educational needs of children in out-of-home care.  There has been too much talk and action about parental choice and not enough about those who do not have parents to protect and advance their interests.