The limits of school choice: some implications for accountability of selective practices and positional competition in Australian education

Abstract

The application of market principles to educational provision continues to attract governments across the globe, despite an international body of literature suggesting that marketisation can exacerbate inequalities. In light of a renewed policy push in Australia towards accountability via a market model, this paper analyses the impact of existing school choice policies in the state of Victoria, with particular reference to educational provision in an area of social disadvantage in Melbourne's north. This analysis challenges the claims of the now normalised market model, but also points to the need to expand research into this theme, which has attracted relatively little critical attention in Australia. I argue that both the operation of existing policies and the direction of new proposals imply an uneven system of accountability which applies different standards to increasingly polarised ‘closed’ and ‘open’ schooling sectors.

Keywords:

• demand-sensitive schooling
• disadvantage
• marketisation
• school choice
• social inequality

Notes

1. The names of all schools and students have been altered to protect their anonymity.

2. This subject only exists at year 12 level. Students were asked ‘do you plan to study specialist mathematics next year?’ At some schools, students were unaware of the existence of this subject.