"I didn't go to a private school and neither will my kids."

When it came to my education, my mother made a conscious choice to send me to a public school.

She was a primary school teacher who taught in public schools throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. So the public system was a system that she believed in, a system that she knew was staffed by committed teachers and a system that she knew would give me both an academic and a social education.

Thirty years later, I’m proud to have been public school-educated and I suspect who I am today was shaped more by my parents’ ethical stand on this issue than by any other single decision they made during my upbringing.

When it comes to public versus private education, I can understand why parents want the best for their kids. What I can’t understand is why “wanting the best” naturally translates into choosing a private school education.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Australian Education Union, Victoria. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.

The truth is, when it comes to the research, the jury is still out on whether public or private education produces the best results.

Research published in 2009 in the Australian Journal of Education by Gary Marks found that students from independent schools could expect, on average, eight ranks higher on their Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks than their government school counterparts.

But, in 2010, the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) found that, once you strip away the fact that students in private schools come from a higher socio-economic background, there was no meaningful difference between tertiary entrance results from independent, Catholic and government schools.

The upshot is this: the academic benefits of private schools accrue because students’ families are wealthy and have access to resources, not necessarily because the education is better.

Once kids leave school, it turns out that university is a great leveller. Research from Monash University in 2005 found that students from public schools with lower tertiary entrance results overtake their private school colleagues once they are at uni*. Once students are on a level-playing field, state school students tend to do much better academically.

It’s easy to speculate about the reasons for this. It could be that public school students are used to fending for themselves in a free-for-all academic environment. Maybe the independence of university life is much less of a shock for them. And perhaps temptations and distractions are less tempting and distracting if you’ve seen them all before.

If the difference in the academic results of the public and private system are largely irrelevant in the long run, or explained by socio-economics rather than education quality, what is a parent to do?

Well, actually, there are two things that can be done which will make choosing a school for your child a lot easier.

The first is a no-brainer: lend your support to ensure that all schools, public and private, are properly and equitably funded.

At the moment, location, or more accurately socio-economic status, is determining academic outcomes. Students living in disadvantaged areas are up to three years behind kids of the same age who live in wealthy areas – a sickening outcome in Australia today.

These (and all) schools need a boost to funding, which could be calculated on a per student basis, with special loadings to take account of the socio-economic background of the area and other disadvantaged groups, such as students with disabilities or those from rural/regional areas. In short, we need more funding for all schools, with extra help for those who need it, repeated across the country.

The second factor in choosing a school for your child is this: have some faith in your kids.

Back your kids to cope in an environment where they will meet people from different backgrounds, faiths and genders.

Trust them to navigate an education system that provides value and opportunity for all students, not just those who are deemed good enough.

Believe that they’ll find out that being proud of what they’ve achieved themselves is more rewarding than being proud of a tie colour, an Old Boy or a school name.

* http://monash.edu/news/releases/show/284

Private or public? What did you go to and what would you choose for your kids?

Here are some of our famous Aussies who attended public schools:

Put Education 1^st is campaigning to increase the success of Victorian school children and public education in the lead up to the Victorian state election. More resources are needed to ensure our kids are not left behind.

The Australian Education Union represents education staff across all Victorian public schools and TAFEs, and works to promote and advocate for investment in public education. With over 50,000 members, the AEU Victorian branch is the largest education union in the state and campaigns on the educational needs of Victorian students, their teachers and learning communities.