Private school fees and tax?

That's a reasonable point of view and due to the complexity the real numbers may always be a source of contention, my main point was in regard to generalisation's about elitism, and I do acknowledge that you never made any such generalisation's.

I am just guessing the fees at most Catholic schools are much less the other independent schools, I read somewhere sometime ago that overall Catholic Education operates on less money per student the Government schools. If correct it makes one question if more funding is the simple cure all to a better quality education. Again I don't have numbers on hand but I wouldn't mind betting other countries achieve better academic results with less money.

Paradox, I once believed something along the lines of your back of the envelope calculations however no longer do. For starters you omit tax exemptions on every financial transaction. As Ive stated, Im not interested in an argument as to how much each costs, I am keen however to counter false comments such as the non government sector is necessary as the public couldnt cope. Simple fact is the government sector would be bigger if the non government didnt exist, bigger in numbers and bigger in dollars.

Special needs funding is one area that both Federal and State Government budget allocations are well below par. In the sector I work in it is very difficult to get fully funded assistance without going through a very detailed process. The basic need is assistance in the classroom through qualified TA's, there are plenty out there but finding the money to employ them is the problem. The criteria for this is based on the level or type of learning impairment, with many of the most common not attracting funding. As a result the classroom teacher is left to pick up the slack and do the best we can for these students. The real funding issue lies in this area and it is one that Gonski identified and I truly hope that it is addressed sooner rather than later. On the main topic of this thread the basic model is that Catholic Education is 80% funded by Federal and State with State Education 100% funded by our tax dollars. Fees are used to cover educational budgets, maintenance and building with the funding covering the wages bill. State schools must use their slice of the pie to cover pretty much everything. The one difference was when Kevin Rudd distributed 49billion to all sectors based on a rather simple first in best dressed policy, my school got around 3mil which we used to upgrade our library and purchase around 300 Macbooks. One other interesting fact is that almost all Catholic schools have a building levy embedded in the fees we pay plus major fundraising from the P&F to supply things like airconditioning. Our P&F raises over 100k each year through the amazing efforts of our community and I can't see why all schools don't do this to some degree. The main thought amongst educators is that more funding is needed but Health professionals will tell you this as well!