Education
Every child deserves access to a high quality, free and local public school, but right now Victorian state schools are the lowest-funded in Australia, and our teachers are the lowest paid.
The Labor Government cut $2.4 billion from public schools by delaying promised funding to 2031, meaning a child who started prep this year won’t receive proper funding until year 7.
Our teachers and education support workers are burning out, averaging 12 hours of unpaid overtime a week, and increasingly parents are being asked to cover the costs of what’s supposedly free education.
The Greens want to fully fund our public schools. Investing in our schools and education staff is an investment in our children and the future of our community.
Explore our plan for Education
- Fully funded schools
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The Greens believe all government schools should be funded to the full amount recommended by the Gonski review.
- Genuinely free schools
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The Greens believe public education should be genuinely free, and should not need to seek so-called “voluntary” contributions from parents.
Increasingly, parents are being asked to cover the cost of what is supposedly free education, amounting to average $620 per year towards each child’s public school education.
Public schools shouldn’t be forced to rely on school fetes and sausage sizzles to top up insufficient funding.
- Decent pay for teachers
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The Greens want to see teachers and education support staff paid at levels that attract and keep quality applicants.
Our teachers are the lowest paid in Australia and are burning out due to their unreasonable workload.
Teachers and education support staff do an average of 12 hours of unpaid overtime a week and Victorian teachers are set to earn over $15,000 less than their NSW counterparts by October.
- Proper maintenance of school buildings
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The Greens will establish an independent school building authority, so decisions about school building are based on need instead of marginal seats, and our schools are properly maintained.
Many school buildings are over 100 years old and current maintenance budgets are inadequate.
- Address the specialist teacher shortage
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All public school students should have access to free music, drama and language education. The Greens will take action to address Victoria’s specialist teacher shortage.
- Free solar for schools
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The Greens will fund solar panels for government schools, with grants they don’t have to pay back, so they never have to pay a power bill.
- Stop private schools getting more than their fair share
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The Greens will stop private schools from getting more than their share of public money, by capping their funding at 100% of the funding the Gonski review said was needed to meet students’ educational needs.