Weekend Wrap for 7 July 2024

Jane Caro: Class Warfare
"Almost alone among the still functioning democracies, the Australian community has long had to fight to protect public education. No other nation funds education the way we do, yet most Australians remain blissfully ignorant of just what an outlier we are. New arrivals to this country, especially if they come from one of the previously mentioned democracies, often express astonishment at our lavish public funding of private schools, especially those that like to refer to themselves as elite. Not only do we generously fund private schools, we ask little in return. They can be private when it comes to where they will open schools, who they will enrol and employ, and what fees they will charge, but public when it comes to the handing out of taxpayer’s money. No other schooling system anywhere enjoys such largesse for so little reciprocal cost. It’s a bit like the free ride we give the fossil fuel industry." (1 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Monthly

Sheila Ngọc Phạm: How my daughter has taught me the importance of public education for non-religious and religious children alike
"There’s a good deal of tension Australian public life at present, due in part to the increasing segregation of different groups in our society. Because of this, the fact that only 64 per cent of Australian children attend a public school should be a cause for concern — not only because of what that entails for widening inequality, but also because it signifies the erosion of a common life, as people retreat from opportunities to peacefully co-exist with others from different class, cultural, and religious backgrounds. ... One thing I have changed my mind about is the vital importance of religious education (RE) in public schools. I know that RE has long been a contentious aspect of Australian public schooling, and that public opposition is one of the main reasons why programs like Primary Ethics were developed as an alternative. But have we fully reckoned with the effect that the reduced participation in RE is having on our society’s capacity to sustain its commitment to multiculturalism and pluralism?" (2 Jul 2024)
Read more at ABC Religion & Ethics

Andrew West / ABC Radio National: Live event — Educating for a diverse Australia
"Earlier this year, a figure leapt out at us: 4 in 10 students who attend Catholic high schools in fact, aren’t Catholic. And it got us thinking – the place where we learn to get along is the classroom. So how do parents of different faiths, or no faith, decide which school to send their children to? And how do different schools treat religious diversity in their classrooms? In today's episode, we're out of the studio and in Sydney's culturally diverse west, in the City of Parramatta." (3 Jul 2024)
Listen to this episode at ABC Religion & Ethics

John Warhurst: Is another Catholic school shutdown on the horizon?
"Anthony Fisher, Archbishop of Sydney, in a recent speech on religious freedom to the Sydney Catholic Business Network, provocatively claimed that, ‘Some have suggested we should “do another Goulburn” and close our ministries in protest against cultural, legal and governmental interference’. It is not clear exactly who has made such a suggestion. The speech was entitled ‘Religious Freedom in a Secular World: Doomed or Doable?’ As such it was a pointed contribution to the church’s campaign for the freedom of religion legislation promised by the Albanese government after the failures of the Morrison government in this regard, but currently stalled in the thickets of Australian federal politics." (3 Jul 2024)
Read more at Eureka Street

Lucy Hamilton: Classical Christian Education: the culture wars go to school
"The corporate world is afraid of youth demanding change, particularly as rapacious business practices look set to drive us over the climate cliff into a frightening future. One solution the Right has implemented is the Christian Classical Education movement. It is an ultraconservative educational fashion from the US. Michigan’s Hillsdale College is its lodestar, celebrated by American Trumpists. Tony Abbott delivered an awkward speech at the National Symposium for Classical Education in Arizona in January. ... There are several CCE schools in Australia currently. They are also fostered by the Christopher Dawson Centre for Cultural Studies, a Catholic “intellectual society” in Hobart. David Daintree, its director, organises anti-trans activities and shares climate denial material with his mailing list." (6 Jul 2024)
Read more at the AIMN