Educational revolutions are highly fashionable. So anxious are the major parties to present themselves as radical innovators that we seem to face the prospect of a “permanent revolution”. The May Commonwealth budget, which marked the de facto opening of the 2007 federal election campaign, was used by both major parties as an opportunity to proclaim their educational intentions. John Howard announced a $9 billion program for education: $5 billion for universities, $3.5 billion for schools. Benefits for primary and secondary education included vouchers for outside-school tuition for children with literacy and numeracy problems; a cash bonus for schools which made…