Opinion & Commentary by Author

1. My School sheds a welcome light

   Jennifer Buckingham | 17 May 2013 | The Australian

   If governments gather important information about schools and students, it should be available to everyone. The My School... Read More

2. Federal micro-managers to rule the schools

   Jennifer Buckingham | 16 Apr 2013 | Australian Financial Review

   Responses to the federal government’s school funding proposal have been less than enthusiastic. People have rightly pointed... Read More

3. Gonski reforms at risk of failure to launch

   Jennifer Buckingham | 05 Apr 2013 | The Australian

   Two camps have emerged in the Gonski wars, with one camp saying it's all about the money.

4. Far-reaching literacy strategy called for

   Jennifer Buckingham | 18 Dec 2012 | Australian Financial Review

   The finding that one in four students has reading ability either at or below the basic level will be no surprise to anyone... Read More

5. Clarity on schools funding a long way off

   Jennifer Buckingham | 05 Sep 2012 | The Australian Financial Review

   All schools, state and non-government, should expect the federal government’s educational agenda to be imposed upon them... Read More

6. Why our kids still cannot read

   Jennifer Buckingham | 10 Aug 2012 | The Australian

   The perennial struggle to provide all children with effective teaching in reading is becoming less like a war and more like... Read More

7. Politics hinders school reform in NSW

   Jennifer Buckingham | 26 Jul 2012 | Australian Financial Review

   The mooted changes of NSW school reform detailed this week are relatively minor.

8. Mistakes writ large if reading goes wrong

   Jennifer Buckingham | 07 May 2012 | The Sydney Morning Herald

   A flawed report shows the muddled state of literacy policy in NSW.

9. Top quality pre-school is child's play

   Jennifer Buckingham | 30 Apr 2012 | The Herald Sun

   High quality pre-school can significantly mediate the negative impact of a language and literacy-poor home environment, beginning... Read More

10. Opportunity for major reform

    Jennifer Buckingham | 26 Mar 2012 | Education Review

    The highlight of the Gonski report is that it is student-centred; shifting the focus from the demands of schools to the needs... Read More

11. Staffing reform a crucial issue

    Jennifer Buckingham | 14 Mar 2012 | Australian Financial Review

    More autonomy for principals to hire, fire and pay teachers for performance is needed, writes Jennifer Buckingham.

12. Gonski: less for private schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 21 Feb 2012 | Australian Financial Review

    The Gonski report's model as it applies to non-government schools has several redeeming features. It provides for a minimum... Read More

13. Gonski review must not hobble choice

    Jennifer Buckingham | 14 Feb 2012 | Australian Financial Review

    On Monday, the report of the federal government’s Review of Funding for Schooling, commonly known as the ‘Gonski review’... Read More

14. Whether public or private, our schools deserve a fair go

    Jennifer Buckingham | 22 Nov 2011 | The Punch

    School choice means different things to different people. In essence, it refers to the principle that parents should have... Read More

15. Will bonus payments for teachers improve children’s education?

    Jennifer Buckingham | 14 May 2011 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Decentralise salaries and let the market decide what teachers are worth based on their qualifications, professional standing... Read More

16. Top students go backwards

    Jennifer Buckingham | 09 Dec 2010 | The Australian

    The number of high achievers at school is shrinking because all the attention goes to the weak.

17. The growth of religious schooling

    Jennifer Buckingham | 13 Oct 2010 | ABC News

    As religious schools have become more numerous and more visible, they have also become more prominent in debates on education... Read More

18. Simple ambition for all schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 12 Jul 2010 | The Australian

    The much-needed review of school funding should fix a very confusing system.

19. Students are bound to be the biggest losers

    Jennifer Buckingham | 01 May 2010 | The Australian

    The stand-off between Julia Gillard and the teachers union is a no-win situation, says Jennifer Buckingham in The Weekend... Read More

20. Teacher union still waging a war against transparency

    Jennifer Buckingham | 15 Dec 2009 | The Australian

    The Australian Education Union is waging a war against the publication of school league tables and proposes to reinstate... Read More

21. Return to Flyer times with business class

    Jennifer Buckingham | 29 Oct 2009 | The Newcastle Herald

    Train travel was not only more pleasant early in the last century, it was also faster. In 1937, the ‘Newcastle Flyer’... Read More

22. Principal is the means of elevation

    Jennifer Buckingham | 02 Oct 2009 | The Australian

    Somewhere between one in five and one in six students are barely literate and numerate, according to recent national literacy... Read More

23. Informed choice leads to better schooling outcomes

    Jennifer Buckingham | 18 Aug 2009 | Adelaide Now

    Over the last 10 years or so, the school education landscape across Australia has altered significantly. There have been... Read More

24. The time is right to consider radical ideas in education reform

    Jennifer Buckingham | 12 Aug 2009

    The so-called ‘long-tail of under-achievement’ in Australia has been talked about so often by so many people that it... Read More

25. Fund kids not schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 02 Jul 2009 | The Australian

    The debate over funding to non-government schools has never really gone away. On the horizon is yet another review of federal... Read More

26. School Reporting Policy is in a League of its Own

    Jennifer Buckingham | 29 Jun 2009

    When the federal government confirmed last year that it would be making good on its election promise to introduce transparency... Read More

27. Good for jobs, bad for education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 23 Jun 2009 | The Australian

    If ever there was good evidence that politics and education don’t mix, the fiasco of the Building the Education Revolution... Read More

28. Private hurdle for kids

    Jennifer Buckingham | 21 Apr 2009 | The Australian

    The number of school students with disabilities is increasing every year. The government school sector has the largest number... Read More

29. Private hurdle for kids

    Jennifer Buckingham | 21 Apr 2009 | The Australian

    The number of school students with disabilities is increasing every year. The government school sector has the largest number... Read More

30. Learning from New York to improve our education system

    Jennifer Buckingham | 28 Nov 2008 | THe Australian

    New York City's letter-grade school report cards form only one part of the reform program implemented by its schools chancellor,... Read More

31. Every good parent deserves truth

    Jennifer Buckingham | 20 Nov 2008 | Sydney Morning Herald

    State governments have reams of data about schools, but parents - and anyone else interested in education - get to see little... Read More

32. Student Bus Subsidy Has Phantom Menace

    Jennifer Buckingham | 11 Nov 2008 | Newcastle Herald

    The NSW state government’s free student transport scheme is yet again under the gun. Previous inquiries into the School... Read More

33. Brightest and best miss out

    Jennifer Buckingham | 06 Nov 2008 | The Australian

    When the OECD described Australia as a ‘high quality, low equality’ country in its 2000 PISA report, it fuelled an existing... Read More

34. School reporting will be the first test of Labor’s ‘modern federalism’

    Jennifer Buckingham | 12 Aug 2008 | The Canberra Times

    A problematic feature of school education in Australia is that there is a fair amount of choice available to parents, but... Read More

35. The Child Care funding myth

    Jennifer Buckingham | 26 Jul 2008 | The Business Spectator

    Australia's labour shortage continues to play havoc with some regions and sectors of the Australian economy, frustrating... Read More

36. Subsidies increase child care prices, not mothers participation in work

    Jennifer Buckingham | 23 Jul 2008 | The Australian

    The relationship between child care and the participation of mothers in the paid workforce seems obvious: if child care was... Read More

37. Teachers need help with job appointments

    Jennifer Buckingham | 19 Jun 2008 | The Newcastle Herald

    Last month, all NSW public schools were effectively closed because the NSW Teachers Federation called on its members to take... Read More

38. Teachers: Scale their pay to meet demand

    Jennifer Buckingham | 29 May 2008

    It is regularly argued that teacher pay in Australia is too low, and that this is a disincentive to enter the profession.... Read More

39. Budget boredom for schools but watch this space

    Jennifer Buckingham | 15 May 2008 | Crikey

    One word encapsulates the 2008-09 federal budget as it relates to schools - boring. It simply makes official the funding... Read More

40. Here are the three keys to improving our schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 07 Apr 2008 | The Age

    The Australian government’s ‘Australia 2020 Summit’ is now less than a month away. School education, which falls into... Read More

41. Don’t demonise private education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 04 Mar 2008 | The Australian

    A significant and increasing number of children are attending religious institutions for their education. Around two-thirds... Read More

42. Rudd revolution must grasp basics

    Jennifer Buckingham | 17 Dec 2007 | The Australian Financial Review

    Now that the federal election is finally over, those of us interested in education are waiting with bated breath for the... Read More

43. Teacher training must be assessed

    Jennifer Buckingham | 16 Nov 2007 | The Australian

    In the past decade there has been increasing recognition that the quality of schooling is pretty much dependent on the quality... Read More

44. Cash could be better spent outside daycare

    Jennifer Buckingham | 23 Oct 2007 | The Australian

    Arguments for the public funding of child care rest on the claim that it is a public good: that it provides benefits for... Read More

45. Charting a new course through schools red tape

    Jennifer Buckingham | 15 Oct 2007 | The Age

    The state school system in Victoria has gone further towards empowering individual schools and enabling parental choice than... Read More

46. Policy difference is in the detail

    Jennifer Buckingham | 13 Sep 2007 | The Courier Mail

    Labor and Liberal have each come up with some decent policy and some poor policy. The final verdict on education will hinge... Read More

47. Give parents informed choice for schooling

    Jennifer Buckingham | 18 May 2007 | The Newcastle Herald

    In his widely-reported speech to The Centre for Independent Studies this week, the Prime Minister talked about the importance... Read More

48. Power (and cash) to the principals

    Jennifer Buckingham | 07 Feb 2007 | The Australian

    Although much has been made about the poverty of educational standards in Australian schools lately, it is surprising that... Read More

49. Furore over private-school fees is just a distraction

    Jennifer Buckingham | 20 Jan 2007 | The Australian Financial Review

    A couple of times each year, there is a lot of fuss about increases in private-school fees. This causes much consternation... Read More

50. Let the schools choose which accredited curriculum to teach

    Jennifer Buckingham | 30 Oct 2006 | The Canberra Times

    The idea of a national curriculum has been on the federal government agenda for several years. The 2004-05 federal budget... Read More

51. Keep the faith in education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 06 Oct 2006 | The Courier Mail

    In the world of education, certain words have image problems. One of the words most in need of a public relations makeover... Read More

52. Lessons that everyone can profit from

    Jennifer Buckingham | 25 Sep 2006 | The Australian Financial Review

    In the world of education, certain words have image problems. One of the words most in need of a public relations makeover... Read More

53. Choice is best for curriculum

    Jennifer Buckingham | 31 Jul 2006 | The Age

    School curricula and the standards of students seem to be constantly under fire, with discussion over the last six months... Read More

54. Schooled in freedom of choice

    Jennifer Buckingham | 27 Jul 2006 | The Canberra Times

    After years in the policy wilderness, support has been growing for school choice. Politicians on both sides, including federal... Read More

55. Reward key in educator quality equation

    Jennifer Buckingham | 19 Jul 2006 | The Courier Mail

    In almost every profession, people who are good at their job are paid more. This makes perfect sense as it helps to keep... Read More

56. Learn to serve the public

    Jennifer Buckingham | 02 Mar 2006 | The Australian

    About two short decades from now, there will be more non-government schools than state schools. By the time this year's kindergarten... Read More

57. Time to open gate to school-based training

    Jennifer Buckingham | 02 Nov 2005 | The Newcastle Herald

    A few things are known about education. The most important influence on how much a child learns is the quality of teaching... Read More

58. New strategies needed to beat teacher shortage

    Jennifer Buckingham | 19 Oct 2005 | The Courier Mail

    Australia has a serious shortage of suitably qualified maths and science teachers and a continuing problem with attracting... Read More

59. NZ school zoning: fairness or fraud?

    Jennifer Buckingham | 20 Mar 2003 | The Independant

    Good state schools in both New Zealand and Australia are facing a large and growing problem—fraud. Families are providing... Read More

60. Fertility incentives off the mark

    Jennifer Buckingham | 20 Feb 2003 | The Newcastle Herald

    The low fertility rate in this country is just as much about women having fewer children as it is about fewer women having... Read More

61. Parents need report cards on schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 02 Jan 2003 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Greater public scrutiny would increase competition, improve education and cut costs. It was wishful thinking on the part... Read More

62. Sure, we’ll breed (if we can afford it)

    Jennifer Buckingham | 24 Sep 2002 | The Age

    More women would put careers on hold to stay at home with their child if it wasn't so costly, writes Jennifer Buckingham.

63. The importance of staying single legally

    Jennifer Buckingham | 12 Aug 2002 | The Newcastle Herald

    The NSW Law Reform Commission proposes that, when unmarried couples who live together break up, their property settlement... Read More

64. Now is the time for fecund thoughts

    Jennifer Buckingham | 18 Jul 2002 | The Australian

    It's easy to find reasons to put off having a baby. You want to travel first. You want to have a career first. You want to... Read More

65. Public choice must fashion education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 26 Jun 2002 | The Age

    Dr Boston raises the important question of the kind of schools in which we would like to see our children educated. Thanks... Read More

66. Free the teachers to help the students: Parental choice in schooling will improve education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 23 Jan 2002 | The Australian

    A systematic comparison of the academic results of state and non-government schools has been a long time coming. Last week,... Read More

67. A tax credit system should be the basis for funding education

    Jennifer Buckingham | 20 Oct 2001 | The Australian Financial Review

    There is not much for parents or schools to get excited about in the education policies of either of the major parties. As... Read More

68. Modern perils in a lucky country

    Jennifer Buckingham | 31 Aug 2001 | The Daily Telegraph

    What is the state of our nation? For the most part, Australians are better off than they have ever been before. On average,... Read More

69. Equity and the costs of learning

    Jennifer Buckingham | 31 Aug 2001 | The Daily Telegraph

    Once again the knives have come out over school funding. But what is the real basis of the opposition to public funding of... Read More

70. A Fair Go for all Schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 24 Jan 2001 | The Herald Sun

    It is possible to deceive people without telling lies. In support of their campaign against the federal government’s education... Read More

71. Homework Needed on School Funding

    Jennifer Buckingham | 13 Oct 2000 | The Newcastle Herald

    The fracas over federal government school funding documented by the media in the past few weeks presents a compelling case... Read More

72. Schools Need to be Truly 'Public'

    Jennifer Buckingham | 07 May 2000

    Discussions about the future of education in Australia tend to be constricted by a narrow view of the options. They revolve... Read More

73. Swap obstacles for teachers

    Jennifer Buckingham | 30 Nov -0001 | The Australian

    We need new methods to make maths teaching more appealing to the right type of people for our schools.

74. Report card for schools

    Jennifer Buckingham | 30 Nov -0001

    In a paradigm shift, four reports on education reform commissioned by the federal government agree on decentralisation, school... Read More