Budget betrays public school students

Public school and TAFE College students are betrayed in Peter Costello's twelfth budget which provides no real increase in funding to public education. The Federal Government's education priorities are completely wrong and deliberately misguided.

With a record surplus, the Federal Government has chosen to bypass the 2.3 million students in public schools and the 1.3 million in TAFE colleges across Australia. Only public education is open and available to all students regardless of family background, faith and level of income.

Over the next five years public schools will only receive an increase of $300 million. Private schools will be given almost six times as much - $1.7 billion. The Federal Coalition Government has exponentially increased per student funding to private schools since 1996.

For every one dollar of direct federal expenditure per public school student, the Federal Government spent approximately the following on a private school student:

These increases are clear policy directions not enrolment changes.

Public schools need an extra $2.9 billion in recurrent annual funding from federal and state governments (MCEETYA report). The Federal Government has ignored this shortfall and the problems arising from chronic under funding (other than state-based indexation for schools). Early childhood has also missed out in this budget. There are also no increases for TAFE.

Instead of systematic funding the Treasurer, Peter Costello has put forward gimmicks and failed "incentive" schemes. These include:

• offering cash bonuses to schools based on exam results which may, in effect, punish struggling students
• literacy and numeracy vouchers - this scheme takes money out of public schools and dissipates it. Furthermore, in the last round much of the money remained unexpended
• establishing more "Australian Technical Colleges" which duplicate courses already available at TAFE Colleges and public schools
• "Summer schools" - All teachers need the support provided by regular and funded professional development and training

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Last Modified: 28 May 2007