Public schools for the first time.
“Fair dinkum, this is the big one,” Jason Clare said. “New South Wales has the biggest education system in the country and this is the biggest investment in public education by a federal government, ever.”
– fair dinkum, but more on that later.
In practical terms, it’ll mean every student will get 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding. The SRS is a way of working out, developed by the Gonski review, how much money a school needs to meet the full educational needs of its students and reduce the impact of disadvantage on how well students do at school.
It’s a standard amount ($13,977 for primary students and $17,565 for secondary students), plus extra payments for specific groups, such as Indigenous students or students with a disability, and for schools that are considered disadvantaged.
NSW public schools to be fully funded by 2034, leaving Queensland as the only state outside the agreement.
The new funding, to be introduced from next year, will be linked to education reforms and targets, including tailored support, evidence-based teaching methods, phonics and numeracy assessments, as well as mental health and wellbeing assistance.
Most politicians would agree that fully funding public schools is a no-brainer.
“Fair dinkum, it should’ve been done over a decade ago,” Clare said on Tuesday.
What’s been a long-running problem is who’s been responsible for footing the bill.
Under a model put in place by the Turnbull government, the federal government currently contributes 20% of the total funding to public schools, with states required to fund public schools at 75% – leaving a 5% gap.
Figures from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) data reveal that a staggering 98% of private schools are operating with excess funds under the School Resourcing Standard (SRS).
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The ACT, Western Australia, the NT and Tasmania were keen to join the deal, but the larger states refused to sign up, compelling the federal government to increase their funding to 25%, as they had a greater financial capacity to contribute.
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A deal with Queensland is unlikely. The state’s education minister said they’ve got until December this year, when the current funding agreement runs out, to negotiate – despite an election possibly being held within the next couple of months.
But here’s the catch. Under the terms of the agreement, it’ll take until 2034 for every student at every school to reach that full funding.
The speed of the rollout means another generation of public school students will go through their entire schooling without the baseline level of funding in most states and territories. Only the Australian Capital Territory has already reached the SRS.
The 50 public schools in Australia where parents pay the highest voluntary contributions
Fair dinkum, Labor can claim they got the deal done, and can head into the election with a ripping yarn to tell on education, which, like health, is a real core issue for the party.
Education unions have been adamant that they will be strongly advocating for Labor.
As with Medicare, the opposition has promised to match public school funding deals Labor has made with the states and territories.
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