2023-05-10
Federal Labor has again proven it has no plan to end education inequality with last night’s budget pouring even more money into the private school system, the Greens say.
The Albanese Government has increased private school spending by a further $3.3 billion over the forward estimates, compared to just $900 million for public schools.
This means that Labor is now giving private schools $5 billion more than the Morrison Government. Under Labor, private school funding as a percentage of total school spending is increasing, while funding to public schools is falling.
Comments attributable to Greens spokesperson on schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
“For a party that likes to talk about not leaving people behind, Labor sure has a strange way of showing it.
“The poor, the homeless, people looking for work, renters, young people, and public school parents and carers must be looking at last night’s budget and wondering what the hell happened.
“As a proportion of total school expenditure, private school funding continues to grow under Labor, while most public schools are still falling well short of 100% of their Schooling Resource Standard – the bare minimum level of funding they need to provide a basic education.
“While elite schools are awash with more cash than they know what to do with, public schools across the country are struggling to attract and retain teachers and meet the needs of their students.
“Labor says it wants to put all public schools ‘on a pathway’ to full funding. But under the current National School Reform Agreement – which has been extended by a year after Labor postponed a new agreement – public schools will never receive 100% of their Schooling Resource Standard funding. Not in five years; not in 100 years. That so-called ‘pathway’ stretches on to infinity.
“More than a decade on from Gonski, public schools in Australia remain underfunded, while the private sector is overfunded.
“There’s no indication that this is likely to change under Labor.”