The federal government's own blueprint for federation reform argued Malcolm Turnbull's proposal for a radical school funding shake up could create a more unfair system and introduce "perverse" incentives for cost shifting.
It would also undermine years of work to create a more nationally consistent school system, the government's Reform of the Federation green paper found.
Mr Turnbull said on Thursday he believed the federal government should end its involvement in public schools, but continue funding private and Catholic schools.
States would be able to make up the shortfall by levying their own share of income tax, he said.
The federal government currently pays $5.2 billion to public schools, rising to $7.14 billion in 2019. It gives $9.4 billion to non-government schools, rising to $11.6 billion by 2019.
While the Victorian government blasted the proposal, NSW Premier Mike Baird said he supported the idea of giving "more autonomy to states" but wanted the six-year Gonski agreements funded in full.
Mr Turnbull said his approach would end "arm wrestling" between Canberra and the states over who is responsible for schooling by making state governments more accountable, he said.
The federal government's discussion paper on federation reform, released publicly by then prime minister Tony Abbott last year after sections were leaked to Fairfax Media, said this approach would create "clean lines of accountability as it would be clear which schooling sector each level of government is responsible for".
But it warned: "This option could, however, lead to very different funding models being applied across the states and territories and between the government and non-government sectors, leading to differences in the level of public funding for schools with similar population characteristics.
"This is likely to give rise to concerns about fairness, as well as introduce perverse incentives for governments to shift costs within the system."
It could also limit state governments' ability to "effectively regulate and assist the non-government sector improve student performance, or to ensure a baseline of consistency that allows easy movement for students between schooling sectors".
"It would also undermine the considerable degree of co-operation across the schooling sectors that has built-up over many years," the green paper found.
The green paper was far more positive about an alternative proposal: giving state governments full responsibility for all schools.
This option would provide "absolute clarity" about who is responsible for schools, "promote better and more cost-effective service delivery", provide more budget certainty and allow better planning.
But Mr Turnbull said on Thursday he did not support this approach.
"I suspect no federal government would retreat from funding and continuing to support the non-government school sector because there would be a concern that they would not get a fair go from state governments, who obviously would have a competing interest with their schools," he said.
Catholic and independent schools have long argued they want to maintain their historical relationship with Canberra rather than the states.( if that is so then the states should immediately withdraw their funding for private schools)
The Independent Schools Council of Australia on Thursday welcomed Mr Turnbull's ongoing commitment to federal funding of their sector.
NSW Premier Mike Baird said: "If you look at what the PM did, one thing I'm very very supportive of, he's determined through his proposal and approach to federation is to give more autonomy to states.
"That's something I absolutely welcome. Is this the right mechanism? We need to do some more work. The principle of wanting to give more autonomy to states is absolutely a good thing."
Mr Baird added: "If the federal government is saying they are no longer going to fund the Gonski agreement, well, they need to tell us that over the discussions coming forward."
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said Mr Turnbull's proposal was a "cynical attempt" to justify the federal government's decision to abandon the Gonski school funding agreement.
"It's not enough that they've torn up a signed agreement, they now want to brazenly ditch all responsibility for our government schools," he said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said: "It's completely and utterly unacceptable that Mr Turnbull is so willing to wash his hands of ensuring Australian kids get a decent education."
Australian Education Union deputy federal president Maurie Mulheron said Mr Turnbull's approach would be a "disaster".
"Locking in a system where state governments have full responsibility for public schools and the federal government for private schools is locking in inequity and would be the end of needs-based Gonski funding," he said.
@theage on Twitter | theageAustralia on Facebook
And the AEU says.....
Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal to end Federal Government funding of public schools would entrench inequity and end needs-based Gonski funding in Australian schools.
Prime Minister Turnbull suggested on radio this morning that one option being discussed as part of his plans to change income tax arrangements was for State governments to take full responsibility for funding public schools, while the Federal Government took responsibility for private schools.
AEU Deputy Federal President Maurie Mulheron said the plan, which will be discussed at tomorrow’s COAG meeting, would be a disaster – and was an attempt by Mr Turnbull to dodge responsibility for funding schools.
"Locking in a system where State governments have full responsibility for public schools and the Federal Government for private schools is locking in inequity and would be the end of needs-based Gonski funding," Mr Mulheron said.
"Schools don’t care whether their funding comes from the State or Federal Government – they just care about whether they have the funds to meet the needs of their students."
The key recommendation of the Gonski Review was that the Federal Government needed to work with the States and take the bulk of responsibility for ensuring disadvantaged schools got the funding they needed.
This meant two-thirds of the extra revenue schools need was to come from the Federal Government and one-third from the States, recognising that the Federal Government had greater access to funding than the cash-strapped States.
"Mr Turnbull’s plan goes against the principles of the Gonski model and its goal of giving every student the chance of a quality education regardless of where they go to school," says Mr Mulheron.
"We need Mr Turnbull to fund the full six years of Gonski reforms which fund all schools on the basis of need, not whether they are public or private. He needs to match Labor’s commitment to invest an extra $4.5 billion in schools in 2018 and 2019.
"Malcolm Turnbull’s real agenda is becoming clear. His income-tax plan is simply a way for the Federal Government to abandon its responsibilities to public schools and hospitals.
"State governments must reject this plan and demand that the Federal Government continue to fund all schools on the basis of need.
"We are already seeing Gonski funding making a positive difference to student results. We need the full six years of the Gonski agreements to ensure that all schools get the resources they need to educate all of their students."
Research confirms that prior to the Gonski reforms, Australia's funding system was not based on need and saw the biggest increases in funding go to private schools.
"Gonski funding aims to resolve this mess by ensuring that both levels of government take their share of responsibility for funding the schools which educate disadvantaged students," Mr Mulheron.
"Mr Turnbull wants to turn his back on this and go back to an inefficient, divisive and inequitable system which will see thousands of students left behind."
The Federal Government’s own Green Paper on Reform of the Federation warned against Turnbull's proposal, reporting that:
This option could ... lead to very different funding models being applied across the States and Territories and between the government and non-government sectors, leading to differences in the level of public funding for schools with similar population characteristics. This is likely to give rise to concerns about fairness, as well as introduce perverse incentives for governments to shift costs within the system.
The AEU says Turnbull’s plan would disadvantage students in States, which had less capacity to raise their own income tax.
"If Malcolm Turnbull fails to fund Gonski in full, he is failing our kids,” Mr Mulheron said.
"We know that one in seven 15-year-olds struggles to read properly, and one in five struggles with basic maths. We also know that disadvantaged students are five times more likely to be poor performers than students from wealthy backgrounds.
"It is not in our long-term social or economic interest to let these children leave school without the skills to get a job or lead a successful life.
"Gonski funding delivers extra funding to all schools, but delivers the biggest increases to schools which educate disadvantaged students."
No comments:
Post a Comment