Public schools need $14 billion cut restored to close resource gap

When independent and Catholic schools are receiving more funding than public schools you know how unfair the system has become, Federation President Maurie Mulheron said today.

New analysis of MySchool data by the Australian Education Union shows large resource gaps between public and independent schools.

“The only way to start levelling the playing field is to restore the federal funding that public schools should have received this year and last year,” Mr Mulheron said. “Thankfully, Labor has made a commitment to do exactly that if it is elected to government in the federal election, and will boost funding to public schools.”

Mr Mulheron said that without the restoration of the $14 billion that the Coalition cut from public schools, the resources gaps between public and private schools are only going to increase.

“Public schools educate the vast majority of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and yet they are operating with thousands of dollars less per student than private schools,” he said.

“Public schools are also the fastest-growing schools and yet the Commonwealth has stopped providing any funding for capital works.

“Because they get so much recurrent funding, independent schools are able to spend up to five times as much on buildings and facilities as public schools.

“If this is the Morrison Government’s idea of a fair go for public schools, then the Morrison Government needs to go.”