School funding chaos grows

Labor has abandoned the new national school funding model as it has been exposed as fundamentally flawed, said the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne today.

“According to reports today most Catholic Schools will be exempt from the new funding formula while Government systems will be able to adjust it to suit themselves,” Mr Pyne said.

“The Coalition has long said schools will be worse off under the new model and this has been confirmed with sectors trying to make special deals,” he said. 

“It is not surprising that the Association of Independent Schools in New South Wales have today identified 63 independent schools that would lose under the new model when compared to the old model. Many of these schools are in rural areas.

“Parents with children in these schools will face higher school fees because Labor has created a fundamentally flawed model that cuts funding to schools.

“Labor has repeatedly assured non-government schools that no school will be worse off under the new model, but it appears this is simply not the case. The funding formula is deficient.

“The Coalition has found there is $325 million less over the next four years under the new model, something Labor won’t admit.

“With many government schools in Victoria and Queensland apparently losing under the model, it is time to entirely abandon this shambolic process and extend the current funding model by at least twelve months,” Mr Pyne said.

4 July 2013