Private schools have seized on an opportunity provided by an Amendment Bill before the Parliament to attempt to lock-in billions in Commonwealth over-funding for years to come.
In a submission to a Senate inquiry on the Bill, Independent Schools Australia (ISA) has proposed that the current cap on Commonwealth funding be replaced by a floor. If adopted, it will open the door for a future government to arbitrarily increase the Commonwealth share of funding for private schools without any parliamentary scrutiny. Such a move would further widen the already huge resource gap between independent and public schools.
Under the current Commonwealth funding arrangements, private schools will be over-funded by $2.8 billion during 2022-2028 inclusive – Catholic schools by $1.3 billion and Independent schools by $1.5 billion. This over-funding is due to expire in 2029 when the legislative cap of 80% on the Commonwealth share of funding the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) becomes fully effective.
In its insatiable greed for taxpayer funding, ISA is attempting to derail ending privileged over-funding for its schools and that of other private schools. ISA’s submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee inquiry on the Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill proposes that the current cap of 80% for Commonwealth funding be replaced by a floor of 80%. This would create the opportunity for a future Labor or Coalition government to increase the funding share above 80%, thereby entrenching or increasing the current over-funding. This is entirely possible as there will be two federal elections before the over-funding is due........