Class war: ‘We’ll teach the Greens’, vow private schools

Independent schools are preparing to launch a nationwide campaign in Greens and marginal electorates calling out the ‘relentless and baseless vilification’ of private schools.

Independent Schools Australia chief executive Graham Catt, says ‘with an election approaching we will be working to ensure ­families’ voices are heard loud and clear in key electorates, including those held by the Greens’.

Independent schools are preparing to launch a nationwide campaign in Greens and marginal electorates calling out the “relentless and baseless vilification” of private schools and urging constituents not to support parties that would abolish their funding and limit educational choices.

Independent Schools Australia revealed it would begin targeting seats held by the left-wing minor party, as well as other hotly contested electorates, following increasing criticism over the allocation of government funding to private schools.

School funding is a crucible issue for Labor and its biggest source of division with its state ALP counterparts. The Greens are expected to push for ­reforms that would slash some independent schools’ funding in any power-sharing agreement with a minority Labor government.

ISA chief executive Graham Catt said his organisation was gearing up to take the fight to the Greens, with school leaders, teachers and parents making clear “they’ve had enough of the relentless and baseless vilification of families who simply want the best for their children”.

“Parents are making significant sacrifices in a cost-of-living crisis, and we know from our ­research that families – especially in key marginal seats – feel ­betrayed by policies that threaten their educational choices,” Mr Catt said.

“With an election approaching we will be working to ensure ­families’ voices are heard loud and clear in key electorates, including those held by the Greens.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt ­declared earlier this year that his party would be fighting for more public school funding and arguing against “the continued over­funding of those very wealthy private schools that clearly don’t need even more public funds”.

Greens leader Adam Bandt. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

 The row with the ISA could be one of the Greens’ first major tests in holding the formerly Liberal Queensland seats of Ryan and Brisbane, with the potential to complicate the party’s plan to win more wealthy marginal seats off Labor, the Coalition and teal independents at the next election.

As part of research by the ISA conducted late last year, more than 80 per cent of the 2000 ­parents surveyed agreed it was important that families had the right to choose which school was best for their child.

More than 70 per cent agreed every child had a right to “some level of government funding” for their education, while 66 per cent agreed that if independent school funding was cut, the public system could not cope with the increased enrolments.

The Albanese government sought to quell concerns over a lack of funding for public schools this month, with Education ­Minister Jason Clare introducing legislation to lift the commonwealth share of state school funding by $16bn over the next decade after intense negotiations with states and territories.

Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Catt said all students in all school sectors should be supported to “access a great education”, but that this should not result in attacks against private schools and campaigns to have their funding slashed.

“The relentless attacks against independent schools, particularly by the Greens, only hurt the families and teachers who deserve better,” he said.

“With over 700,000 students and growing, many of whom ­attend independent schools in what will be hotly contested ­marginal seats, we will be advocating strongly for these families during the election.”

The amount of government funding a school needs is based on the Schooling Resourcing Standard. The commonwealth provides 20 per cent of a public school’s funding needs, while states and territories are required to provide the other 80 per cent.

For private schools, the funding arrangement is flipped so the federal government provides 80 per cent and states and territories deliver 20 per cent.

The Greens and the Australian Education Union have ­steadily ramped up criticism against private schools in recent years, with the AEU conducting several rounds of analysis that showed disparities between private and public schools.

As part of this, the AEU ­released a report showing five elite private schools splurged more money on new facilities than governments spent on half of Australia’s public schools collectively in 2021.

Mr Catt said the majority of students in independent schools – which included specialist schools such as Muslim and Jewish institutions – came from middle to low-income families, with ­median annual school fees sitting at just over $5500.

The majority of independent school students come from middle- to low-income families. Picture: Getty Images

“(These families) should be supported, not penalised, for making educational choices that align with their values and aspirations for their children,” he said.

“Over 85 per cent of capital funding comes from these families, who are taxpayers too.”

Greens primary and secondary education spokeswoman Penny Allman-Payne said private schools received $51m from the federal government every day, and yet some of the richest schools were “still gouging parents and carers”.

“It’s great to see the private school lobby highlighting the stark inequity of Australia’s two-tiered school system,” Senator Allman-Payne said “But I think many private school parents would be surprised that they want to campaign against the Greens, when we’re the only party calling out the outrageous fees that parents are being charged by wealthy private schools. Meanwhile, public school teachers are spending their own money to provide stationery for their kids – I think every parent and carer in the country knows that’s not right.”

As part of the calculation for the level of federal funding a private school will receive, parents’ “capacity to contribute” is looked at alongside other considerations, with commonwealth funding tapering off the higher the ­median income of the families whose child attends the school.

“Independent school parents are taxpayers, and yet they face criticism for choosing the best education for their children and subsidising the cost by paying fees,” Mr Catt said. “Meanwhile, families across Australia face a postcode lottery, where the quality of education depends on their location. All families should have the right to make the best educational choice for their kids, and politicians need to support – not punish – those decisions.”