As at March 2012
INDEPENDENT EDUCATION UNION OF AUSTRALIA
School Funding – A Fair Go For All HAVE YOUR SAY Introduction The Federal Government is currently giving consideration to the recommendations of the Gonski Review of School Funding. While recommendations have been made by the Gonski Panel, changes to the legislation which provides federal funding to schools will need to be considered, debated and passed by both Houses of Federal Parliament. Legislation for a new funding model will be made this year for the funding of schools in 2014 and onwards. Public Consultations The time to discuss the Gonski recommendations is prior to the legislation being set before Parliament. On 22 February 2012, the Federal Government commenced discussions with schools, communities and stakeholders. This will include local information sessions and online forums. IEU members are encouraged to get involved and actively participate in this consultation process. The online forum is located at www.schoolfunding.gov.au Gonski Delivers on Funding Throughout the School Funding Campaign, IEU members across the country have visited MPs, written submissions to the Review Panel and letters to the editor, calling for:
The development of a resource standard designed to meet the educational needs of all students The indexation of school funding linked to educational cost inflation Full funding for students with disability regardless of their enrolment Fair transition arrangement to the new funding model.
The recommendations from the Gonski Review acknowledge all four significant issues to be addressed. Most importantly, the Gonski Review recognises that there are three providers of education: Government schools, Catholic schools and Independent schools and that there is a responsibility upon Governments to fund these providers. C:\Users\ecuthbertson\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\TXIWBER3\School Funding Public Consultation Kit.doc
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The long awaited report on school funding accepts the diversity of the education sector, spells out the legitimacy of ongoing funding and recommends that State and Territory governments commit to ongoing funding to non-government schools. Report Recommendations It is important when considering the recommendations of the Gonski Review to note that the report recommends a framework for a new funding model. Further details are required in developing the actual model of funding. (i)
Resource Standard The report recommends the development of a resource standard which meets the costs of the educational needs of a student. Government schools would be fully funded to this resource standard. Non-government schools would receive funding equivalent to 20-90% of the resource standard depending on school community capacity. There is an expectation that almost every non-government school would contribute 10% of the resource standard.
(ii)
Additional loadings The report recommends additional loadings to be applied to the resource standard to take into account disadvantaged, indigenous and ESL students‟ education needs. Almost 5% of non-government schools would receive 100% funding as recognition of the student and community needs.
(iii) Special needs The report recommends that, in consultation with States and Territories, the Federal Government develops an entitlement which fully and publicly funds the cost of educating a child with disability regardless of what school and in what State/Territory they attend.
Additional resources are required to achieve sustained improvements. These resources must be targeted at school base and classroom learning strategies which are critical to success. The Gonski report recommends a further $5bn or 15 per cent of all governments‟ recurrent funding for schooling for that year. “Without this further investment, the high cost of poor educational outcomes will become an even greater drag on Australia’s social and economic development in the future”. (Page 212 Review of Funding for Schooling.) For a full account of the Recommendations of the Report, go to www.schoolfunding.gov.au
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INDEPENDENT EDUCATION UNION OF AUSTRALIA
School Funding – A Fair Go For All Have Your Say Key Messages to Consider The Gonski Report recommends a national funding framework requiring federal and state agreement. This will need to be worked through and, if successful, a fairer more consistent funding model will deliver resources to our schools. But the success of this funding model relies on the willingness and commitment of Federal and State/Territory Governments to ensure adequate funding to support the recommendations. IEU members are encouraged to get involved in the current public consultations and call for Federal and State/Territory governments:
to commit to extra funds necessary to keep current levels of spending (appropriately indexed)
to boost funding for special needs and disadvantaged students.
The following information is provided to assist members in the development of their comments to the online consultation process located at www.schoolfunding.gov.au Facts About Non-Government Schools: Non-Government Schooling: 1.3 million students Over 2,700 schools In excess of 70,000 IEU members
Non-Government students account for: 30.9% of all Primary students 39.2% of all Secondary students 34.3% of all students
1 in every 2 secondary students in metropolitan areas is enrolled in a non-government school. Almost 50% of students attend a non-government school at some stage in their compulsory years of schooling. In addition to the 90,000+ teaching staff there are over 30,000+ specialist support staff, teacher aides, administrative and clerical and other support personnel. There are around 80 Special Schools in the non-government sector. It is a large endeavour – the NSW Catholic school system is the fourth largest education employer in the country; the Victorian Catholic employer is the sixth largest in the country.
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More than 91,000 families with two or more children at school had children in more than one sector, and more than 650 families chose all three sectors. More than 200,000 students in Australian schools have at least one of their brothers or sisters educated in another school sector. More than 20,000 students in Australian non-government schools have a parent(s) who is teaching is a government school, and 33,000 students in government schools have a parent(s) teaching in a non-government school. Over 23 different faiths conduct non-government schools in Australia. The Productivity Commission calculated that federal, state and territory government recurrent expenditure per student in government schools was $13,544 in 2008-09. The Commission said total government expenditure per student in non-government schools was $6,850 in 2008-09. (Productivity Commission January 2011.) Major Points for Public Debate on Funding The public debate regarding school funding and the deliberations of the Federal Government should consider: All Australian students are entitled to a well funded world- class education; The Australian non-government sector is a legitimate part of Australian education systems; The Australian non-government school sector reflects the diverse range of cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds of Australian society; School funding should ensure that there is an opportunity for all Australian families to access the high quality and diverse non-government school system; Almost 50% of students attend a non-government school at some point during their school years; It is about parents‟ choice. The current school system provides choice for parents; It is the Federal Government‟s responsibility to provide access to education for all.
Messages to Debunk the Myths The public debate must highlight and discredit myths about the schools in which our members work.
The question of school „assets‟ is also not a „black and white‟ issue. It has been thrown carelessly into the current debate with little challenge about scope or intent, needs of schools or student population or location or sector; Class sizes, teacher salaries, the range of subjects taught, student population and needs, teacher workload are contributing factors which influence costs for both government and non-government sectors; There are privileged and poor schools within both sectors – government and nongovernment; It is not only non-government schools that have access to private income and indeed there are a large number of government schools with private income sources of $1$2 million, indeed up to over $4 million; It is about location not sector;
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The debate should focus on funding the need of the student and the school; No evidence that current funding arrangements have caused a “shift” in enrolment to non-government schools. Growth in enrolments has been occurring for past 40 years. Parents are choosing low fee non-government schools in low economic areas (below average SES scores); We need to recognise the role of “selective schools” in the government sector; Less than 0.6% of non-government schools are considered “high fee” (>$20,000 pa); Less than 2% of all Australian students attend “high fee” schools.
Messages to highlight the need for transparency Parents and teachers have a right to understand the way in which all schools are funded.
Variation currently exists in the way that State/Territory Governments fund schools – especially for special needs students; Increasing educational costs are more than CPI – funding must be appropriately indexed to reflect education inflation; Federal Funding arrangements for non-government schools already take into account higher costs in government education as upper limit funding (SES) is set at 70% of AGSRC.
Meeting the Special Needs of Students
All schools are inadequately funded to meet the needs of students with disabilities; Students with disability represent a significant proportion of students in schools; All schools need to have capacity to meet the educational needs of all students; Funding is needed to meet the costs of specialist teachers and support staff, development of specialised programs, access to specialised services; Disparity in funding causes real hardship for families; Parents want to send children to the same school as their siblings. They need to be supported in this choice; The full cost of meeting the educational needs of students with special needs should be funded by Government, regardless of whether the student attends a government or non-government school; The Monash University report identified disparity existing between non-government and government schools. The report found that: 6 a) Students with Disabilities attending non-government regular schools receive substantially less government disability funding than students with disabilities with similar needs attending government regular schools. 6 b) Students with Disabilities attending non government special schools also receive substantially less government disability funding than students with disabilities with similar needs attending government regular schools.
Thus the level of funding for students with disabilities and special needs in nongovernment mainstream schools means that individual schools/systems are subsidising these costs from other sources. For more information visit www.educationforall.com.au
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What could be said? The following are examples of comments that could be provided to online public forum:
I am a teacher in a Catholic school in the south east metropolitan area of Perth. I am concerned that the government funding to my school and other non government schools is not only maintained, but also actually increased to resource the needs of our school and our students.
I support the Gonski recommendations that the funding of schools should be based on equality and need and not the labels of “public/private”. The non-government community school where I work does not have the same fundraising capacity as the selective government school in the next suburb. Our parents simply can’t afford those sorts of fundraising activities. It is essential that we move the funding debate away from the rhetoric of “private schools are over funded” and ensure a realistic approach to meeting the needs of all students.
When will we finally receive ongoing and realistic funding for all kids with special needs? I am a support staff working with special needs students. Our independent community school simply doesn’t have enough resources to adequately meet the kids’ needs consistently. I am employed on short term contracts because the government funding for the kids is not always guaranteed.
There are far too many inconsistencies in how our kids with special needs are supported through the government. I am a teacher in a Catholic school with 30 students in the class. This year I have 6 special needs students who have been verified for additional government funding support but I have 10 other children with severe learning and behavioural disabilities who do not receive any additional support other than what I can provide. This is the reality of teaching. The Gonski recommendations support greater consistency and funding. The federal government must now fund and implement the recommendations.
Gonksi has told us what has to happen. Come on Governments, fund and implement!
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