Rich Kid Poor Kid: The battle for public education: Vantage Point Issue 5

by Jane Caro

How did we get here?
For decades, Australia has been pumping money into private education while public schools struggle. Whether it's crumbling classrooms, overworked teachers or cuts to music and STEM programs, the system is reaching breaking point. At the same time, with higher rates of private school attendance and the marketisation of education, parents have increased anxiety when faced with the decision of where to send their child. The current system contributes to greater inequity, decreased integration of different communities and even traffic jams as parents are more likely to drive their kids to a private school further from their house.


How did we get here?


Jane Caro walks through the decades of policy decisions that have created this situation and identifies the choices that have created the current education crisis. With her trademark no-nonsense analysis and drawing from her personal experiences, Caro lays out the steps that brought us to this point and what Australia can do to get a public education system worthy of a such a wealthy country.

86 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 28, 2026

About the author

Jane Caro wears many hats; including author, lecturer, mentor, social commentator, columnist, workshop facilitator, speaker, broadcaster and award-winning advertising writer. Jane runs her own communications consultancy and lectures in Advertising Creative at The School of Communication Arts at UWS. She has published three books: The Stupid Country: How Australia is dismantling public education co-authored with Chris Bonnor (2007), The F Word. How we learned to swear by feminism co-authored with Catherine Fox (2008), and Just a Girl (UQP, 2011). She has also appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise, ABC’s Q&A and ABC’s The Gruen Transfer.

Reviews

[Ben Mayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a father of primary school kids despairing at choosing a high school education for my children, this book was hits hard. It has some great arguments and ideas for having fairer dinging for schooling on Australia. I dropped one star because I would have liked more detailed research on what the potential consequences of not changing our current trajectory, and just more data and evidence in general. Overall the ideas and essence were bang on and I got a lot out of it. If this book has its intended impact, my kids, family and Aussie society will benefit greatly.

[Elliot Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book needs more attention.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Public schools are an expression of a public good: the common good. They are hanging by a thread. We jettison them at our peril.” Sharp albeit depressing.