Investing in public education is investing in every child and every community across Australia.
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 7, 27 September 2024, page 7.
Properly funded public education is broadly supported by communities across Australia. The injustice of governments overfunding the most privileged schools while state schools, including those educating children facing the greatest disadvantage, remain underfunded below minimum standards must end.
During Book Week, celebrated by schools in Term 3, the Australian Education Union (AEU) launched a book of stories from the field – submissions they have received from teachers, students and community members sharing their experiences of public education and vision for a fully funded sector. You can find the book here: Their Future - Made in Australia
The AEU has now delivered a copy of the book to all federal parliamentarians, so that they can hear about the impact of school funding from the people it affects most.
On 21 August, delegations from states and territories gathered to again emphasise the importance of the federal government lifting its contribution to 25 per cent of the schooling resource standard (SRS). We were joined by five state Education Ministers, including our own Minister Di Farmer.
The Queensland delegation comprised members, students, and parents from the Treasurer’s electorate of Rankin, including: Kathleen Janecek (principal of Woodridge SHS), Priya Pragalathan (Woodridge SHS school captain) and her mum Jeyarani, and Lorinda McVicar (Treasurer of Woodridge SHS and support worker at Brown Plains SHS).
We met with Queensland Senators Penny Allman Payne and Anthony Chisholm, and other parliamentarians including Ministers Clare and Butler, Andrew Wilkie, and many others.
Current state school students in Year 12 have never known a fully funded system. Listening to Priya, Lorinda, and Kathleen talk about the impact of this was sobering. The federal government claims correctly that it is offering a record spend on education, with $16 billion on offer. However, this is only 22.5 per cent of the SRS and is to be delivered over 10 years. If the federal government committed to the full 25 per cent over a shorter timeframe, it would boost the support provided to our teachers, school leaders and students.
Minister Clare and Prime Minister Albanese have an obligation to fully fund state schools around Australia. Not doing so will entrench inequality and deny support to those who require it most. Not only that, it’s the right thing to do if the federal government wants to match its narrative of valuing the teaching profession. It has to value the whole profession, not only the 30 per cent who work in private and independent schools. It has to go beyond actions in an action plan and match them with the funding required to deliver the outcomes.
In a system affected by workforce shortages, workload burdens and underfunding, this makes sense, and the time is now. Resources to support smaller class sizes, support staff for students and their families, literacy and numeracy support, more guidance officers and health staff could go a long way to supporting students, their families and our members who want time and space to teach and lead.
We are calling on the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments to:
- fully fund all state schools by 2028
- change the Education Act
- remove the 4 per cent depreciation allowance from the bilateral school funding agreements, so that all schools can be fully funded
- invest in state school infrastructure through immediate and ongoing capital works funding programs.
Time to lock in new school funding agreements that do not leave public schools underfunded for another decade is quickly running out.