State Budget news is not all good

Despite a lack of transparency WENDY CURRIE can see both good and bad in the State Budget papers for public education.

This year's State Budget has increased funding to Education and Training by 4.63 per cent on what was spent in the financial year 2005-2006, to $10.6 billion. The expected inflation rate is 2.75 per cent.

The increase of 5.3 per cent for public schools is higher than that for non government schools (5.1 per cent) for the first time in years and this is good news.

However, once again the sector that fares the worst is TAFE, with an expected increase below the inflation rate. The table (below) shows the increases allocated for each sector.

An analysis of the Budget papers provides part of the reason for the increase outstripping inflation. In 2005-2006 the Department of Education and Training spent less on capital works than they had been allocated in the Budget. And it was a considerable amount that they didn't spend -- $13.6 million in public primary/infants schools, $18.2 million in secondary schools and $5.2 million in TAFE.

So the amount allocated for capital expenditure for the coming year is a lot more than what was spent last year. This is understandable. If you don't use all the money you're given to improve infrastructure one year, you have to spend more the next year. And this accounts for the large percentage increases for capital expenditure in this Budget: 16.6 per cent for primary; 59.6 per cent for secondary (an overall increase for schools of 34.4 per cent); though only 4.13 per cent for TAFE.

I don't think it would take too much effort for schools, TAFE colleges and communities in NSW to identify where last year's unspent capital works money could have been put to good use.

On the other hand, capital works in non government schools received different treatment. In last year's Budget the interest subsidy on loans for approved building projects was allocated $56 million. They received $3 million more than their allocation or $59 million. The allocation this year lifts that figure by 5.6 per cent to $62.3 million.

This is not surprising. Something similar occurred the year before, even though only a few years ago the State Government claimed it was cutting back this scheme.

Federation highlighted a number of areas as priorities for enhanced funding through the Budget process. Of these, the only one that was addressed was maintenance, with $120 million allocated over four years to address the $115 million backlog identified by the Auditor-General last year. While the additional amount is welcome, it will not be available fast enough to remedy long-standing maintenance problems in a timely fashion.

As with the unspent capital expenditure, teachers might question what the Budget papers called "the Government's strong commitment to provide quality learning environments for students and teachers," when they fail to address real maintenance issues, of which they have been well aware, until they are publicly shamed, and even then, only over a four year period.

Another area highlighted by Federation was improved technology support and professional development and here there was a decrease from the $942 million allocated in 2005-06 to only $676 million this year. The Budget papers are notoriously lacking in transparency with the result that it is never clear whether any of these figures include TAFE. It well may be that last year they did and this year they don't. One might think they do this to ensure that no-one can really compare the figures from year to year. The provision includes $295 million for the Technology for Learning program (T4L) and the remainder of the 129 technology support staff, $75 million for email and internet services, and $262 million for improved internet access, although even this is unclear as the provision of computers is said elsewhere to come from the capital works budget.

The bottom line though is that there is no money for additional technology support, nor for professional development relating to teaching the mandatory information communication technology competencies embedded in all syllabuses.

The other areas we highlighted, support for beginning teachers, the provision of English as a second language and TAFE, received no enhancements. The very real need in these areas fell on deaf ears.

One aspect of the Budget demonstrates the power of sustained public action. For several years the Budget has failed to fund the Priority Action Schools (PAS) program. On each occasion the Government was forced to back down because of a very public stand taken by affected schools. This year, continued funding of PAS was guaranteed in the Budget papers.

Wendy Currie is a Research Officer.

Skills shortage not addressed

For further information

June 2006 contents