Queensland’s education system was recently rocked by revelations teachers at Balmoral State High School posed in a raunchy and provocative calendar, during school hours, on school property.

Most Australians view the Balmoral High calendar as the catalyst for turning a spotlight our schooling system, the breakdown of classroom standards, lack of discipline, and some poor outcomes for children who are leaving schools.

The issues surrounding the controversy are far wider, and far deeper than just pictures in a calendar.

These pictures point to a system where teachers have largely lost control of their classrooms, so disempowered and deflated is their collective mood. If you want to control a classroom, one would be thinking dressing as a nun and taking pictures was not the way to go about it.

The ABS has reported that over the last decade the number of Australian children in private schools has increased by 25%, while the number in state schools is in decline.

And why wouldn’t parents choose a private school over a state school? As mentioned on MMM’s radio (link attached), a lot of mothers are aghast at this behaviour, and don’t find it acceptable.

The truth for those mums is this: would this calendar earn a teacher a reprimand, or dismissal at a private school? If the answer to that question is yes then it follows, in the interests of their child, a parent would choose a private system that wouldn’t tolerate such nonsense from their teachers.

One Nation has a comprehensive policy on education, that aims to give parents the flexibility to move between the private and public education system, using a voucher system to assist with the tuition of their children.

Our view is simple: parents know best for their kids. It is them that should decide where public funding is spent; after all it is their taxes that goes funding the education system.