I also met plenty of private school grads while working in the prison system.
I don't suggest "penalising" private schools. right now though (since Howard's largesse due to his excellent paying off the debt that encumbered Aus for generations since WW2), private schools are being paid money they don't need. a vast excess that the country can ill-afford after the increased debt levels without a cause accumulated by the Abbott to Morrison govts.
"The biggest issue is how people value the education system & I'm sorry to say that parents who send their kids to State schools value it very low.". . people in poverty have long despised eduction. the idea of education is to learn how to learn and this takes appreciation of the value of education.
as you say public school education is now in another crisis. teachers finding it harder to maintain professional standards in the face of increasingly aggressive kids in impoverished communities. govt funding has been divided between public and private since Howard's day. remove the private school funding and support public schools better, providing much needed therapeutic approaches as well as basic education and the kids can be helped to relieve their angst, which is often associated with poor parental skills.
this was trialed during the last Labor govts and removed by Abbott. but the efforts showed improvement. now its returned to square 1.
