What Do Parents Want From Schools?

Educational freedom and proper use of resources are both crucial in producing the best outcomes for school students. This paper provides an insight into parental perspectives of the current state of school choice and resourcing. The research results reveal the areas of importance to parents and how they and their children could be better served by our education system.

The CIS commissioned YouGov to survey Australian parents with school-aged children. The data from the 1,010 surveyed parents relates to 1,394 children.

Results reveal that parents do not think that schools are under-resourced, and they would prioritise funding to be used more on providing facilities and activities for students, than on more staffing. Parents are generally confident that resources are used well, but appear to favour less centralised spending decisions.

Survey results show that most parents feel limited in the choice and availability of schools, and around 2 in 5 parents are hesitant to endorse or would reject their choice if they had their time again.

Policy makers should consider approaches to expand school choice to more Australian parents.