Government funding increases for Catholic and Independent schools have outstripped those for public schools since 2009 and entrenched a major resource advantage for them. New figures published by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority show Catholic and Independent schools have a much higher income per student than public schools across Australia and in nearly every state/territory. (more…)
Trevor Cobbold
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NSW and Qld public schools will lose billions if stand-off is not resolved
A stand-off between the Albanese Government and the NSW and Queensland Governments over public school funding has been going on for more than a year. The longer it lasts, the more public schools will lose. If it is not resolved, public schools in the two states could lose nearly $40 billion in funding over the next 10 years. Continuing under-funding of public schools will be catastrophic, particularly for disadvantaged students and schools in the two states. (more…)
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Public schools bear the greatest burden of disadvantage
A new research paper published by Save Our Schools shows conclusively that public schools bear the greatest burden of disadvantage, but are not resourced to overcome its effect on learning outcomes. Public schools have to do a lot more with far fewer resources than Catholic and Independent schools. (more…)
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No Christmas presents for public schools
There are no Christmas presents for public schools in new interim funding agreements between the Albanese Government and the major states. (more…)
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Private schools’ opportunist attempt to lock-in over-funding
Private schools have seized on an opportunity provided by an Amendment Bill before the Parliament to attempt to lock-in billions in Commonwealth over-funding for years to come. (more…)
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Labor’s amendments to the Education Act fail to ensure full funding of Public Schools
The Labor Government‘s proposed amendments to the Australian Education Act fail in their goal to provide “a pathway to full and fair funding for all schools”.
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NT school funding agreement includes more accounting fiddles
The new school funding agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments brings a much needed boost to public schools funding. However, the claims by the Federal Education Minister, the NT Chief Minister and the NT Education Minister that Territory public schools will be fully funded by 2029 is a deliberate falsehood, that is, a lie.
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Productivity commission exposes private school funding defects
New analysis by the Productivity Commission of donations to school building and other funds highlights how antithetical private school funding is to the concept of needs-based funding. (more…)
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Private schools serving richest NSW families over-funded by millions
New figures reveal scandalous over-funding of NSW Independent schools serving the richest families in the state. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds are being squandered on just 52 highly privileged schools while public schools go begging. (more…)
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Exposed: Private Schools caught in commonwealth funding rort
The increasing number of Grandparents paying private school fees has enabled elite schools to evade Commonwealth parent income tests determining the rate of taxpayer funding that goes to society’s most wealthy and least in need students. (more…)
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Government funding increases continue to favour private schools
New figures again demonstrate the bias against public schools in Australia’s school funding system.
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Fully funding public schools is critical for the government’s education agenda
The recent announcement by the Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare, that the government wants to raise the percentage of young people achieving a tertiary education to 80% points to the huge stakes at issue in the current negotiations between the Federal and state governments on the next school funding agreements. (more…)
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Labor’s complete capitulation to elite private schools….again!
A few hours of testimony before the Education Committee of Senate Estimates exposed the canker at the heart of school funding in Australia. The canker is the double standard applied to the funding of public and private schools. The Assistant Minister for Education, Anthony Chisholm, announced that a tax rort worth hundreds of millions of dollars to elite private schools would continue but refused to renounce accounting tricks that swindle public schools of billions in funding. The double standard is despicable. In effect, Labor is refusing to fully fund public schools but private school funding privileges are sacrosanct. (more…)
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Private schools had biggest decline in PISA results
Catholic and independent schools had the biggest declines in the OECD’s Programme of Student Assessment (PISA) test results since 2009. Their students lost 1½ to nearly two years of learning in reading, mathematics and science. The falls in test scores were far bigger than for public schools. (more…)
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The lost decade of school autonomy in NSW
It is just over ten years since the school autonomy program called Local Schools, Local Decisions commenced in NSW. It has been a lost decade. It was supposed to increased student results but high inequity in education continues with more bureaucracy, less central support for schools and bigger workloads for principals and teachers. (more…)
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Shocking Inequity in NSW school outcomes and funding
The latest NAPLAN results show shocking inequalities in school outcomes between highly advantaged and disadvantaged students in NSW. (more…)
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Labor should scrap the Stage 3 Tax Cuts for the rich
The Albanese Government should scrap the Stage 3 tax cuts for the rich. They are indefensible when public education and other critical human services face a funding crisis. New studies show that there are no trickle-down economic benefits from tax cuts for the rich. They only to boost inequality directly and indirectly. (more…)
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A review of “Waiting for Gonski”
The book Waiting for Gonski was published earlier this year on the 10th anniversary of the Gonski Report on school funding. It is a well-researched and well-written account of the history of the Gonski funding model, its flawed implementation including many special deals for private schools and its destruction by successive Coalition governments. It should be read by anyone concerned about the state of school funding and inequity in education. (more…)
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Equity in education must be clearly defined, measured and reported
Equity in education has long been a key national goal for schooling. Most recently, it is one of the key goals in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Declaration of national goals. However, it has never been clearly defined. This deficiency has resulted in a variety of interpretations, inadequate target, limited reporting and lack of accountability for improving equity. Equity in education should be well-defined in order to effectively guide education policy and funding, measure equity and monitor progress in improving equity. (more…)
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Morrison government to over-fund NSW private schools by nearly $1 billion
NSW private schools are massively over-funded by the Commonwealth Government. Estimates based on official figures presented to Senate Estimate show that the NSW Catholic education system and nearly 40% of Independent schools will be over-funded by $865 million by the Commonwealth Government from 2022 to 2028. (more…)
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NSW public schools face a funding crisis while private schools are over funded
Public schools in NSW face a funding crisis. Combined Commonwealth and NSW Government funding for private schools has increased by three times that for public schools since 2009-10. Projected funding estimates show that private schools will be over-funded by $2 billion for the rest of the decade while public schools will be under-funded by $21 billion. (more…)
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We need to get Gonski back on track
The Gonski Report on School Funding was published 10 years ago this month. It promised much to increase equity in education. However, its promise was undermined by fundamental flaws in Labor’s new model and trashed by Coalition governments. (more…)
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New funding figures pressure Labor to offer fair deal to public schools
Unless there is a dramatic change in school funding policies the vast inequity in school outcomes will continue for the rest of the decade.
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Greed or need? Privileged schools top the class in avarice
Highly profitable private schools raked in millions from JobKeeper, underlining the deep flaws and inequality in Australia’s school funding system.
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Don’t mind if we do: Victorian private schools deep in JobKeeper trough
A scheme designed to save Australia from long unemployment queues has been a gravy train for the private schools serving the most advantaged families.
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In education we are now measuring motivation rather than learning
The international education juggernaut is under scrutiny for reliability as figures show some students make scant effort — and there are implications for NAPLAN. (more…)
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Nobel Prize reveals how much money matters in education — and carries a lesson for Australia
Research by a Nobel Prize for Economics winner shows the impact of education funding on the future success of students is greater than previously believed. (more…)
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Wealthy schools pocket millions in JobKeeper funds despite profits
Blessed are the rich! The payments to elite schools despite their healthy bottom lines and vast assets highlight the pressing need for education funding reform. (more…)
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Private schools brawl to get their snouts deeper in the funding trough
A coalition of Independent schools complained (on the ABC 7.30 Report) that they are disadvantaged by the Morrison Government’s new funding model because their funding increase is not as big as others. They want yet another special deal from the Morrison Government as do many other Independent schools.
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Education department refuses to hold private schools accountable for taxpayer funding
Yet another damning report by the Auditor-General shows that the Commonwealth Department of Education continues to fail to fully hold private school systems accountable for how they distribute taxpayer funding. It also criticises the Minister for Education and the Department for failing to meet their parliamentary reporting obligations.