New low reached in federal funding

by Sally Edsall

Federation is stunned at the difference in the money amounts of grants provided by the Federal Government to private and public schools in the Investing in our Schools Program (capital works and maintenance funding) in 2005.

In the Dobell electorate, 30 public schools applied for funding, 18 were successful and the total grant amount approved by the Minister was $726,539, averaging $40,363 per school. By contrast, one private school applied and the Minister approved $2,073,873 to that school.

That was the most blatant disparity, but other electorates showed huge differences as well:

• Chifley: 22 public schools applied, 17 were successful, total grant amount $747,350, average $43,962 per school. One private school applied, $590,766 richer.
• Eden-Monaro: 41 public schools applied, 23 were successful, total grant amount $878,818, average $38,209 per school. One private school applied, $386,130 richer.
• New England : 43 public schools applied, 29 were successful, total grant amount $746,146, average $25,729 per school. Two private schools applied, total grant amount $1,142,506, each school $571,253 richer.

The program was announced by the Howard Government as a policy at the last election. It was meant to redress some of the problems in building maintenance and facilities provision in, mainly, public schools. Minister at that time, Brendan Nelson, called it an "exciting new initiative" and issued numerous media releases about the benefit of the program to public schools.

What he did not mention was the super-benefits which would accrue to some private schools, and no mention was made of the differences in the rules between public and private schools.

Public schools can only get the money via submissions made by parent bodies. The program was structured so that state governments and priorities determined by the states would have no bearing on the distribution of funds. Opposition education spokesperson Jenny Macklin has claimed that they have been used as pork-barrelling in Coalition electorates.

By contrast, private school grants are made to Block Grant Authorities (BGAs), of which there are two in each state, one for Catholic schools and another for independent schools. The Government obviously wanted to bypass the largest "Block Grant Authorities", state governments, but left the assessment of needs and projects to the authorities representing private schools.

The funding guidelines state that, for public schools, it is "specifically targeted at smaller infrastructure projects" and gives examples. It was not allowed to be used for major building projects. By contrast, the guidelines allow for private schools to purchase land, with or without buildings, and for the "planning, erection, alteration, demolition or refurbishment" of buildings. Only one-third of money had to be set aside by the BGAs for "small projects".

Public school communities are funded to a maximum of $150,000 over the four year program, whereas there is no cap on the amounts individual private schools can receive, as the examples above show.

The guidelines for public school funding can be read at
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/DFED946D-4361-4219-99EC-604C87873CB8/9400/IOSA4GuidelinesSTATEJan062.pdf

Guidelines for private schools:
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/E7F34EF5-4279-40D2-9437-1A6D7F8A142D/7631/RevisedNonGovtwebversion3August1.rtf

To see the list of grants made so far to NSW public schools visit
www.dest.gov.au.

Sally Edsall is a Research Officer.

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Last Modified: 10 Mar 2006