Public schools 'lose out' on funds as rises favour wealthy

GOVERNMENT funding for private schools is rising about 1.5 times faster than the growth in funding for public schools.

School sector funding

GOVERNMENT funding for private schools is rising about 1.5 times faster than the growth in funding for public schools.

An analysis of the latest National Report on Schooling shows state and federal government funding over the past seven years rose 82 per cent for independent schools and 64 per cent for Catholic schools. By contrast, government funding of public schools rose about 48 per cent.

The analysis shows governments provided independent schools with an average $8336 per student and Catholic schools with an average $6991 per student while $11,591 was provided for the average public school student.

About 90 per cent of government funding for public schools comes from state governments, while about 70 per cent of government funding for non-government schools comes from the commonwealth.

Previous reports have shown federal government funding for independent schools has risen.

When all sources of income are taken into account, including fees and funding for capital works, government schools spent an average $11,591 per student, Catholic schools an average $11,539 and independent schools an average $16,309.

The analysis was conducted by economist Trevor Cobbold, formerly with the Productivity Commission and who now heads public education lobby group Save Our Schools.

The funding figures in the National Report on Schooling 2009 are collected by the ministerial council on education and compiled by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority.

The report was released in the past few weeks.

Mr Cobbold said Catholic schools had previously lagged government schools in available funding, but the figures show the sector now had equal financial resources available for its students while independent schools still enjoyed much greater income.

"These new figures demonstrate the perversity of government funding policies over the past decade, which have favoured private schools," he said.

"The biggest funding increases have gone to the wealthiest school sector, which has a large resource advantage entirely due to government funding."

The federal government has commissioned an independent review into funding of public and private schools, headed by businessman David Gonski.

The final report and recommendations were handed in before Christmas and the government expects to respond in the early part of the school year.

Mr Cobbold said government schools educated the vast majority of the nation's most disadvantaged students, including about 80 per cent of the poorest students, 86 per cent of indigenous students and 84 per cent of students in remote areas.

"Government schools . . . do the heavy lifting.

"Despite their bigger challenges, government schools received the smallest increase in government funding since 2001-02," he said.

Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said the figures highlighted "the urgency for a fundamental overhaul of the funding system . . . The opportunity now exists for the government to introduce a new funding system to deliver a better deal for public schools."