In education, these are undoubtedly the elite non-government schools. It is worthwhile examining whether the ideals and practices of these schools operate in the interests of students, or merely in the interests of market dominance. Markets simply do not work in schooling. Government schools, which accept with pride the duty to care for all who enrol, are punished by the market for doing so. Schools that hide their failings, expel their troubled students and reject all who need education most, are rewarded not only by increasing market share, but by a grateful Federal Government.
Education is too important and complex to be left to the market theory.
There is also the question of accountability. Elite schools each receive millions of dollars a year in state and federal grants, and yet the taxpayer and the public have no right to know how effectively that money is spent, or even if basic duty of care requirements are being met. Parents at the school have no right of recourse except through the courts. In another recent case, a prominent Sydney private school has sought leave to employ a convicted sex offender as a teacher. The merits of this extraordinary move are not able to be judged, but what is certain is that the name of the school will be suppressed and the parents and public kept in the dark.