Independent schools call out Greens’ class war

Independent schools will target Adam Bandt’s seat and three other electorates held by the Greens in retaliation for the ‘divisive rhetoric’ its MPs have directed at private schools.

Greens leader Adam Bandt, his wife Claudia and daughter Wren at the May 2022 election. Picture: Getty Images

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Independent schools will target Greens leader Adam Bandt’s seat and three other electorates held by the left-wing party in retaliation for the “divisive rhetoric” its MPs have directed at private schools, as part of a nationwide campaign warning against slashing funding to the sector and limiting parents’ choices.

Independent Schools Australia has revealed it will target in its pre-election campaign 17 mostly marginal seats with a high proportion of students in non-governments schools, including six Labor electorates, four held by Greens and teal MPs and three by the Coalition.

Education Minister Jason Clare’s electorate of Blaxland will be a focus for the peak body, as will the Labor seats of Wills in Victoria held by Peter Khalil, Louise Miller-Frost’s seat of Boothby in South Australia, Luke Gosling’s seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory and Moreton in Queensland, held by retiring MP Graham Perrett.

The peak body will also target the Greens’ Queensland seats, Brisbane, Ryan and Griffith, and Mr Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne, to send a message to the minor party over its “unfair and misleading” representation of private schools.

The Greens have criticised the level of government funding for independent schools, claiming 98 per cent of schools in the sector are “overfunded”.

The party has also repeatedly attacked the government for providing the majority of private schools with more funding per student than their public counterparts.

As the prospect of a minority government looms, the Greens, in a major election policy announcement this week, will push to make public schools completely free through a policy requiring the government to cover back-to-school expenses and voluntary fees.

ISA chief executive Graham Catt rejected the “wealthy private school” narrative being peddled, pointing out the majority of students educated in independent schools are from disadvantaged and middle-class families.

He also dismissed claims private schools students are awarded more funding, with independent schools receiving $12,160 per student compared to $22,510 for those in public schools.

“The divisive rhetoric coming from the Greens is unfair and misleading,” Mr Catt said.

“Independent schools educate students from every background, including 60 per cent from low to middle-income families.

“That’s reflected in the fact that most schools charge fees below $6000 per year.

“The Greens seem to be unaware that independent schools educate over 19,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, 157,000 students with disability, and more than 15,500 students with complex support needs in special assistance schools.”

The ISA’s School Choice Counts campaign will ramp up pressure to keep an independent education affordable by highlighting the diversity of its students and the importance of parents having options. The ads will also directly call on the Greens not to turn children into “political footballs”.

Teal independents will also be targeted including electorates held by Wentworth MP Allegra Spender, Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel, Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps and Curtin MP Kate Chaney.

The Coalition seats to be targeted will include SA electorate Sturt, held by James Stevens, the Tasmanian seat of Bass, held by Bridget Archer, and Capricornia in Queensland, held by Michelle Landry.

Mr Catt said the ISA was committed to fighting any policy that would leave independent school parents “worse off”, arguing that families were making “sacrifices” to send a child to their school of choice and the issue should not be hijacked to “support political agendas”.

“The relentless, divisive, misleading rhetoric that seeks to pit school sectors against each other – and the community against non-government schools – does enormous harm,” he said.

Greens primary and secondary education spokeswoman Penny Allman-Payne said the “richest and most privileged” private schools were “gouging” parents by jacking up fees despite the public funding.

“Private schools get $51m every single day from the commonwealth while 98 per cent of public schools receive less than their bare minimum funding,” she said.

“I think many people would be wondering why the private school lobby is campaigning against the Greens, when we’re the only party fighting for a fully funded and world-class education for all kids, no matter their family’s wealth or what school they attend.”

Mr Clare said private schools are now funded to the level set out by David Gonski in a landmark review, but “the problem is public schools aren’t”.

“I am focused on fixing that, so all schools have the resources they need,” he said.

“This funding is not a blank cheque. It’s tied to evidence-based reforms to help children to read, write and do maths. The sort of thing that all parents expect.”

Of the 716,000 students in independent schools, 22 per cent have a disability and 19,299 are Indigenous, ISA figures reveal.

Public school funding has become an increasingly fraught issue for federal Labor after it became locked in a standoff with NSW, Victoria, Queensland and SA over a public education funding agreement.