Every child should get education funding.
I saw an argument on twitter today where one party argued that private schools should not get any government funding at all. I find this idea quite repulsive;
Every child in Australia should be educated, and that education should be, to a standard, some might argue basic, level, by the federal government. There are only a few things I think the government should handle, and this is certainly one of them.
There is no reason why private schools should not exist. For the most part, they are religious in nature, and cater to parents who wish to send their kids to a school that provides a specific type of environment, usually, one with God.
Now I am an atheist. So before you jump on me, I am not pushing a religious agenda here.
So the parents are free to choose a public school, with its particular environment, or a private school, with whatever points of difference it offers.
The fact is, the parents in the latter case DO pay for the privilege of what they would argue is an improved environment for their kids. They pay the school quite large fees.
That does not mean that the federal government should not give that school the same per child amount of funding as it gives a public school. It most certainly should. Kids that go to a private school are not second class citizens, and should not be short changed.
The idea that the government is somehow subsidising private enterprise when it gives money to private schools is ridiculous. It is simply passing on education funding for the students those schools are taking care of. Lets be honest, if we closed every private school, those kids would be at public schools! There is no reason not to fund their education.