What Schools Do To Make Parents Pay
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 11, 1994
WHILE the State Government is telling parents they don't have to pay school fees, principals are calling students into their offices and pressuring them to make contributions.
Some principals contacted by the Herald yesterday said they refused to issue textbooks until the fee had been paid while others withheld reports as a way to negotiate payment.
Ms Alexandra Sharp, secretary of the NSW Secondary Principals Council, said students at her school were strongly encouraged to take responsibility for fees.
"I don't think many people withhold the reports but we do use it as a negotiating factor for them to talk about their fees," she said. "It doesn't mean they have to pay them it just means we can get the students into the office to talk about it.
Ms Sharp, principal of Macarthur Girls High school, said the Department of School Education had warned schools throughout the State not to hold back reports because of unpaid fees.
She said the $40,000 her school raised through fees was necessary to upgrade equipment such as computers and library books. "There is a pressure to provide specialist subjects and the expectation of parents has increased," she said.
Eastwood Heights Public School Principal, Mr Kevin Coates, said students at his school did not receive a maths textbook until a $10 fee had been paid by parents. He said the textbook was not necessary to complete the course.
"But what you find is that the good payers end up paying for the bad payers," he said.
Mr Coates said that before the beginning of each school year parents were told how fees would be used to buy equipment.
Government school fees, which range from $50 to more than $400 in the more affluent areas of Sydney, are not compulsory according to a State Government report released this week which reiterated the voluntary nature of the charges.
Following a review, fees will be capped at $56 for high schools and $24 for primary schools from next year with further increases being tied to inflation
From next year, schools which charge less than the average fees will be able to increase fees only after negotiations with the school council or broad community consultation.
Apart from introducing the recommendations, the Minister for Education, Mrs Virginia Chadwick, has also approved reinstatement of a committee to conduct a full review of the inequity of fees among some schools.
The report has recommended that one blanket fee should be charged in all schools for all subjects. It said some schools were charging between $50 and$200 to enrol in some senior subjects such as hospitality studies.
Mr Phil Cross, president of the NSW Teachers Federation, believes fees should not be compulsory. "But the one thing I find terrible is the inequity which results," he said.
"You find that in some schools where they charge $50 in fees only a third of students may be paying it yet with fees of $400 in wealthier suburbs most parents would pay it."
Ms Roslyn Brennan, president for the Federation of Parents & Citizens'Association, said school fees should not be linked to the local wealth of the area.
"What we found on the committee was that the fees were going up to match the market level," she said. "We now want to find out why some fees are high in areas and some are low."
Warren Johnson, executive officer of the parents' group, said parents should not have to pay school fees.
"The Education Reform Act says that instruction in public schools are free so why should we have to pay," he said.
Following the review, the federation will now refer all complaints about specific schools and fees to the State Government.
Mr Johnson said the federation received about 25 calls a month from parents complaining they had been victimised or discriminated against because of non payment of fees.
Mr John Aquilina, the Opposition spokesman for Education, said fees wouldn't be necessary if the State Government topped-up education funding.
He said NSW funding for education rated poorly compared with the rest of the country.
A study by the Australian Education Council on the per capita amount spent on students during 1991-1992 had found that NSW rated the lowest of all States at $4,136, about $400 below the national average.
"Education has been placed behind health as the number two priority in this State," Mr Aquilina said.
Most people interviewed by the Herald said fees should not be compulsory but that schools needed the extra money it generated to top up funds.
A spokeswoman for Mrs Chadwick's office said the expectation of parents and students had put pressure on schools to spend extra money upgrading equipment
But she said principals would be reprimanded if found to be holding back reports or discriminating against students who couldn't pay the fees.
"Fees are not compulsory and never have been," she said. "Principals use this money to provide a cream to their education."
Not all principals pressure students to pay fees. Mr Gary Briggs, the principal of Condell Park High School, said the school had reduced its general service fee slightly to $50, below the average calculated by the Government.
"We reduced it at the beginning of the year because we could see our community was undergoing tough times," he said.
"There's no doubt that schools would love to have unlimited funds but you have to organise and prioritise."
Mr Briggs said that no student was prevented from taking a subject if he or she was unable to pay the subject fees.
Mr Brian Jux, principal of Bossley Park High, said students who couldn't pay fees at his school were given assistance through the State Government Assistance Scheme.
A MUM WHO BUCKS THE SYSTEM
MRS SUSAN Edwards has refused to pay her son's school fees for the past four years because she believes that public education should be free.
Mrs Edwards, of Eastwood, ignores yearly requests to pay the $75 general service fee for her son Stuart, 12, who attends Eastwood Heights Public School.
She complained to the head office of the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Association yesterday after the school sent home a note saying that students who had paid their school fees wouldn't have to pay an extra $3 to attend a school musical night.
"I actually think this is discrimination," she said. "I suppose I'm a conscientious objector when it comes to school fees."
Although Mrs Edwards has refused to pay the service fee she does pay about$60 a year for textbooks, photocopying and work sheets. "Students should have their textbooks from the moment they begin back in February regardless of whether money has been paid," she said.
"My son needs those books so he can sit and compete in class."
Mrs Edwards said she's heard of cases where children have been denied textbooks up to three months because parents have been unable to pay school fees.
"I've heard of some cases, although I've never met the parents, where some students have been without textbooks until Easter."
"I only recently stopped working and I paid my taxes so why should I have to pay again in the form of school fees," she said.
"If I wanted to pay fees I would send my child to a private school."
Mrs Edwards said the school has not withdrawn any equipment or activities from her son because of her decision not to pay the fees. "I haven't received any letters and I think they have given up on me because I'm so vocal about the issue," she said.
"I think they use my face as a dart board in the staffroom."
School principal Kevin Coates said students were not given the maths textbook until students had paid the fee.
"The textbook is not the be all and end all in maths," he said.
Mr Coates said if students were unable to pay the $10 fee for learning Italian they were still allowed to join the class. The $20 gymnastic fee could be repaid at $2 a week for 10 weeks.
© 1994 Sydney Morning Herald