Funding furore

Public schools will not receive an extra cent.

Under Scott Morrison, 99% of public schools will not reach the minimum resource standard they need by 2023. This new bill is designed to ensure private schools aren't “disadvantaged” if they are "only" funded to 100% of that standard. Victorian public schools will only reach 90% of the SRS in that timeframe. Essentially, it would deliver private schools billions of dollars in additional funding as “compensation”.

While the bill might be designed to appear fair by taking into account the personal income of a family attending a school, it does not take into account a school's income, wealth or assets including alumni fundraising, trust funds and endowment funds. Incredibly, it doesn't take into account the fees paid to the school by parents!

The Morrison government already provides private schools with special funding deals, including the $1.2b ‘choice and affordability’ fund and $1.9b for school buildings and infrastructure.
 
The federal government’s own estimates show that this bill could see private schools receiving an additional $3.4 billion in Commonwealth funding over the next decade.

The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the bill and we will work with other AEU branches around Australia and the federal office to make a submission as one step to resist what is a fundamentally an unfair law which provides extra resources to schools which need them the least.