Gonski is gone-ski: New report says public schools will be missing out on $34.6bn over next 10 years
While private schools get $55m a day from federal taxpayers, public school students will miss out on $34.6bn over the next 10 years. See what’s happened to the Gonski cash.
A new report questions a key federal government claim that Australian public schools will be fully funded by 2034 under an agreement struck with the states.
The Save Our Schools analysis argues the nation’s public schools will instead be underfunded by as much as $34.6bn over 10 years, led by NSW schools that will miss out on $20bn over the next decade.
It comes as Commonwealth funding of private schools across the nation is around $20bn a year, or $55m a day.
The damning report into the operation of the national Better and Fairer Funding for Schools Agreement undermines a key promise by Education Minister Jason Clare, who heralded the deal as a landmark achievement.
Trevor Cobbold, convenor of Save Our Schools, a lobby group agitating for better funding of public schools, said “despite a substantial and very welcome boost in funding, public schools will remain underfunded in 2034, 23 years after the Gonski Report recommended full funding”.
“It is a shameful neglect of the challenges facing public schools and the learning needs of disadvantaged students, the large majority of whom attend public schools,” he said.
The shortfall comes because all states except the ACT will be funded at less than 100 per cent of their allocated amount, known as the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), in the years leading up to 2034.
In NSW, schools will be funded at 96.2 per cent of their allocation, which adds up to $20bn in total over 10 years. Underfunding will be over $1.9bn a year up to 2028 and remain well over $1bn each year until 2034, the analysis shows.
In Queensland, schools will be funded at 97.6 per cent, which adds up to $12.5bn in total over 10 years. Underfunding will be over $1.6bn a year in 2025 and 2026 and remain over $1bn each year until 2032.
In South Australia, schools will be funded at 98.6 per cent of their allocation, which adds up to $3.1bn over 10 years. Underfunding will increase from $373m in 2024 to $402m in 2028 before gradually declining to 2034. The cumulative underfunding over the ten years is estimated at $3.1bn.
Under the agreement, the Commonwealth agreed to boost its funding of public schools from 20 per cent to 25 per cent, but Mr Cobbold said this was only gradually phased in and is heavily backloaded until the last five years in NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
By 2029, it will have increased by only 0.5 of a percentage point in Queensland, by 1.3 percentage point in NSW and by 1.25 points in South Australia.
In addition, states are allowed to claim expenditure on school transport and capital depreciation as part of their share of funding until 2034, which Mr Cobbold said “defrauds public schools of their rightful funding”.
He said the schools “will remain defrauded by this Morrison era ‘accounting trick’ for another nine years”.
The Victorian state agreement has not been released for public scrutiny. However, a parliamentary committee is holding an inquiry into the state government’s decision to delay raising their share of the school funding increase to 75 per cent until 2031. It was previously set to be increased by 2028, which represents a $2.4bn reduction from previously committed funding for Victorian government schools.
Opposition education spokesman Jonno Duniam said the “Albanese Government promised parents that schools would be fully funded – they need to stick to their promise. If they’re not delivering, they’re letting parents and students down”.
“Funding must translate into better results in the classroom. Parents care about outcomes, not political spin,” he said.
Australian Greens education spokeswoman Senator Penny Allman-Payne said the “so-called ‘better and fairer’ deal with the states locks in permanent underfunding of the public school system while they continue to subsidise mega rich private schools.
“It’s not a pathway to full funding, it’s a road to nowhere. What does it say about Labor that they simply refuse to provide these schools with the bare minimum resourcing while they pour $55m a day into private schools?”
Education Minister Jason Clare said the “Albanese government is investing an additional $16bn in public schools across the nation over the next 10 years”.
“This represents the biggest new investment in public schools by the federal government – ever,” he said.
“Under the Better and Fairer Schools Agreements, public schools in every state and territory will reach 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard.
“The agreements allow for the states and territories to count limited expenses where it directly contributes to education outcomes.
“This replaced the previous government’s provision allowing jurisdictions to claim 4 per cent of SRS funding for indirect school costs such as capital depreciation,” Mr Clare said.
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Originally published as Gonski is gone-ski: New report says public schools will be missing out on $34.6bn over next 10 years
