Private school funding soars leaving public schools behind

Federal and state funding of private schools increased by $3338 per student in the past decade compared to $703 per student for public schools.

The increase in funding for private school students was 34 per cent compared to five per cent for state schools. Picture: Sarah Marshall

Tax-payer funding for private schools has increased nearly five times more than state schools over the past decade, new data shows.

Government funds for each private school student went up by $3338 between 2009-10 and 2019-20, but state funding per student increased by only $703, according to the 2022 Report on Government Services.

In percentage terms, the increase for private school students was 34 per cent compared to five per cent for state schools – nearly seven times as much.

The analysis was conducted by Trevor Cobbold from the Save Our Schools public funding lobby group.

Wesley College received $4459 in government funding. Parents pay $29,470 in school fees. Picture: Mark Stewart

There are now 717 Victorian private schools – up from 693 in 2014. These 717 schools educate 361,682 students and have 44,754 staff. The 1537 government schools in Victoria educate 641,462 students and have 68,191 staff.

The Productivity Commission figures also show 22.8 per cent of kids in Victoria are disadvantaged, with twice as many in state schools as private.

Mr Cobbold said the figures should “put pressure on Labor in the lead-up to the Federal election to end the chronic under-funding of public schools”.

“Public schools face a funding crisis because they will continue to be massively under-funded over the rest of the decade under existing arrangements,” he said.

Ringwood Secondary College received $12,736 in government funding. Parents pay$1714 in school fees.

“Commonwealth funding for private schools increased by $3,001 per student compared to $1,181 for public schools. State governments cut funding for public schools by $478 per student while increasing funding for private schools by $337 per student.”

State schools received $52.6 billion (74.5 per cent), mostly from state governments and independent schools $18 billion, mostly from the federal government.

Mr Cobbold said public schools “do the heavy lifting in our education system” by enrolling 80% or more of disadvantaged students”.

“Also, over 90% of the most disadvantaged schools are public schools,” he said.

Analysis by the Herald Sun from MySchool data shows government funding per school varies according to sector and socio-economic make-up of the school.

Victorian school funding

For instance, Ringwood Secondary College, which has only 20 per cent of kids from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, gets $12,736 from the government and $1714 in parent fees.

In comparison, Hume Central Secondary College, which has 76 per cent of kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, gets $21,635 per student from the government and $402 in parent fees.

Private schools also vary according to the socio-status of parents and the fees charged, with Ilim College (98 per cent disadvantaged students) getting $16,047 in government funds per student compared to $4456 for Wesley College which has only two per cent of its students in the bottom socio-economic quarter.

Acting federal Education Minister Stuart Robert said government recurrent funding on schools overall has increased 5.9 per cent from 2018-19 to $70.6 billion.

“The Australian Government is proud of providing record school funding to all schools to meet the educational needs of Australian students now and into the future,” he said.

Education Minister James Merlino said the State Government had increased its recurrent spending for government school students by more than 30 per cent since 2014/15.

“I have repeatedly asked the commonwealth do its fair share and fund the final 5 per cent of the schooling resource standard for government schools – and it has consistently refused to do so,” he said.

“I’ll continue to urge the Commonwealth to show the same level of commitment we have to Victorian students.”

Originally published as Private school funding soars leaving public schools behind