Giving Kids the Best Chance at School

Public education should be free but every year, South Australian parents pay hundreds of dollars in public school fees to cover sports, excursions and extracurriculars such as swimming lessons¹. The state government has introduced sports vouchers worth $200 for each child per year, however, this amount does not cover a full season of most sports of extracurricular activities².

South Australian public schools are underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars a year and parents are forced to make up some of the difference. The rest of the shortfall is made up by overworked teachers, and compromises on our schoolkids’ education.

Until 2024, South Australian public schools are only funded to 90% from state and federal funding³. The states and territories have agreed to fully fund state schools – by 2034. Our schoolkids can’t wait that long, with larger class sizes, less teachers and higher school fees for families too high a price to pay.

The Greens will fully fund public education for more teachers, smaller class sizes, and no school fees for anything including extracurricular but in school hours activities.

85 per cent of teachers at state schools dip into their own pocket to buy stationery and classroom equipment to make up for the lack of government funding⁴.

The South Australian government has clearly identified that the materials and other service charge is hurting families financially, as they have committed $96 million over 4 years to reduce this to $200 per year⁵. However, we propose doubling this to $240 million over 4 years to get this figure down to zero and cover the cost of all extra fees including subject fees. 

^{1. https://www.ccyp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Spotlight-on-the-True-Cost-of-Going-to-School.pdf}

^{2.  https://www.sportsvouchers.sa.gov.au/}

^{3. https://saveourschools.com.au/funding/private-schools-serving-richest-south-australian-families-over-funded-by-millions/}

^{4. https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/teacher_graphics/article/1211/&path_info=Infographic___Teachers_spending_their_own_money_on_school_purchases_FINAL.pdf}

^{5. https://www.statebudget.sa.gov.au/our-budget/cost-of-living}

South Australian teachers are the backbone of our school education system, but the profession is at breaking point⁶. Teachers themselves are running on empty, with 79% of South Australian teachers saying they are overworked, 71% working with staffing shortages, and 67% struggling with their social and emotional wellbeing. Given the extensive underfunding of the public school system, the SA Greens’ commitment to fully funding state schools by 2029 is going to directly increase teachers’ wages, decrease class sizes and give other direct material support to the education system. Further, the SA Greens will ensure that the government works directly with teachers’ unions to improve issues of safety in the classroom and implement appropriate class sizes in all schools.

^{6. https://unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2023/june/feature/}

Public schools are suffering under aging and unsafe infrastructure. We need better quality, more comfortable and safer learning environments for our students and teachers.

The Greens will establish a capital grants fund worth $50 million available only to government schools. 

Childcare costs are out of control – and the current system is too complex, oversubscribed, and failing families. 

Right now parents are focused to make impossible choices: put careers on hold, miss out on income or skip early education altogether. For children, it means missing out on vital learning and development in the most critical early years. 

The Greens will double the number of government-supported childcare places to makes childcare accessible and free for those who need it.

The Government has started the roll-out of preschool for 3-year-olds, but this doesn’t help people who need to work in the earlier years. 

The South Australian Greens have a plan to:

• Make mining companies pay their fair share in royalties.
• Introduce a South Australian big bank levy.
• Phase out stamp duty and introduce a broad-based land tax.
• Cut wasteful government spending on advertising for itself.

By taxing big corporations’ enormous profits, we can ensure that every South Australian school student can access a world-class education, regardless of their postcode.