public school funding
(Image: Getty/davidf)

Industries were in crisis left and right yesterday. Crikey readers looked at the issues raised by INQ’s latest investigation into the struggles facing teachers in Australia. As some pointed out, the issue extends to human services throughout the country. Meanwhile, readers discussed Benard Keane’s argument that crisis-rife private health insurance has been co-opted into the generational war.

On the crisis in teaching

Mark E Smith writes: This is a problem across all government human service delivery departments. Nursing, disability, teaching, aged care and so on. Part of it is the weakened unionism now. It used to be that extra work required negotiating extra resources. Part of it is mindless arse covering and box ticking due to whatever management guru is big now. It’s hardly surprising that outcomes are reducing. Teaching should be about teaching. Leave the bureaucracy to all those others out in the front office.

On the private health policy mess

Ivan Ransom writes: Profiteering from ill health is ethically repugnant. I don’t mean a comfortable living for a skilled physician or reasonable costs for effective drugs or necessary equipment. What would be best for all is clearly a government-administered national health scheme with emphasis on prevention.

Richard Shortt writes: Australia has one of the world’s best health and hospital systems anywhere in the world; ask any millionaire, they’ll tell ya. The trap — treating health care as a market. The false pathway — following the US model. The answer — spend more money on people, gain greater efficiencies over facilities and disposables.

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