Funding data proves public schools are being ripped off: union — EducationHQ

The report, released today by the Australian Education Union (AEU) with the participation of Commonwealth, State and Territory leaders meeting for National Cabinet, used ACARA data and a rigorous methodology that ensured only schools of the same type (with very similar student, parent and household characteristics, of a similar size and in the same jurisdiction) were compared.

The data revealed that in 2013, 1,146 private schools (or 45% of all private schools) received more combined government funding than comparable public schools. By 2022, this number had risen to 1,550 private schools (or 56.3% of all private schools).

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the shocking findings highlighted the urgent need for public schools to be fully funded by all governments.

“Since 2011, governments have lost their way on school funding. The total government funding gap between private and state schools is now as high as $7,282 per student,” Haythorpe said.

“This unfair funding advantage for private schools translates into a school resource and staffing advantage, creating a boom in private school capital while also denying public schools the ongoing funding they need to attract and retain teachers and meet the high levels of student needs in the classroom.

“These findings reflect the impact of more than a decade of exclusive deals for the private school sector under the previous Coalition Government and a fundamental lack of transparency in the way Australian schools are funded.”

Independent Schools Australia (ISA) said in response, “It is disappointing to see the AEU once again using the complexities of school funding as a smokescreen to launch misguided and misleading attacks on individual non-profit schools and their communities.”

ISA chief executive Graham Catt said ACARA specifically warned against using the data to make direct funding comparisons, even between schools in the same sector, due to differences in funding and business models.

“The AEU ignored this warning and used the data to make misleading sector comparisons,” Catt said.

“Independent schools serve a diverse set of students and communities with diverse needs, so there are many variables in how funding is determined.

“But the simple truth is that public schools will always receive more public funding on a per-pupil basis than private schools that enroll the same group of students.”

The Greens say Labor’s school funding plan is a “reverse Robin Hood” move that drains public schools of their resources and transfers them to wealthy private schools.

The Greens say the government’s proposed ‘Better, Fairer’ Schools Deal does nothing to address this problem and will in fact lead to another decade of underfunding for public schools, ensuring Australia’s school system remains one of the most unequal and segregated in the OECD.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne, the Green Party’s primary and secondary education spokesperson, said every school parent can see that the system we are currently in is “deeply broken, unfair and harmful”.

“Even if you put a private school and a public school side by side that are demographically as similar as possible, the current system still tips the scales in favor of the private system,” Allman-Payne said.

“The Federal Government is going to give $51 million to private schools every day this year. Every day. Who can look a public school parent in the eye and say this is a fair system?”

The senator cited Cranbrook School, known for its $125 million redevelopment project including an aquatics centre, but the school will receive $4.5 million from the Commonwealth government in 2022, while also receiving $62 million in fees from parents.

“This is a complete joke and the only people laughing at it are the rich private schools,” he said.

Catt said the latest data clearly showed that independent school students across the country received an average of $12,160 in government support, while public school students received $22,510.

“Every independent school teacher, every leader, every parent wants all schools to be fully and fairly funded,” he said.

“They should not be the subject of such attacks that deliberately seek to stoke division. Instead, we must unite across all sectors to ensure every Australian child receives the best possible education.”

Speaking to The Age newspaper, Victorian Catholic Education Association chief executive Elizabeth Labone said the union’s analysis ignored a range of factors affecting funding, such as increased funding for students with disabilities.

Private schools in Victoria receive 40 per cent less government funding than state schools, according to the latest figures from the Productivity Commission, he said.

“The Australian Education Union is once again singling out schools for painting a misleading picture of school funding,” he said.

Haythorpe said the funding inequity in public schools across the country was a direct result of the deliberate undermining of the Gonski review of school finance reforms by the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments.

“It is now up to the Albanese Government to address these wrongs and fully fund 100% of the SRS for all students in Australia. Anything less will fail students and their public school teachers.”

Last month’s NAPLAN results revealed that a third of Australian students are failing to meet minimum expectations, further exposing the failings of the country’s current education policies.

The states and territories are currently engaged in intensive negotiations with the Federal Government in the hope of ensuring that public schools reach 100 per cent of the SRS, which was agreed under the Gonski reforms proposed 13 years ago.

Government schools, which educate 64 per cent of Australian students, are running a deficit of around $5 billion each year, which, together with other funding shortfalls, amounts to around 5 per cent of the estimated minimum SRS.