New funding agreements between federal, state and territory governments would see public schools funded according to the school resource standard (SRS) for the first time.
The SRS estimates how much total public funding a school needs to meet its students’ educational needs. It is based on recommendations made in the 2011 Gonski Review of School Funding.
Education minister Jason Clare is currently negotiating new funding arrangements with other states that would see them reach the SRS.
In NSW, the current funding shortfall is about $1.9 billion a year.
NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra said state schools reaching the resource standard was one of their top priorities this year.
“We want to realise the promise of state and federal governments to fully fund our public schools to 100% of the school resource standard, which is the minimum level of funding required to meet the needs of all our students,” he said.
“We understand they’re still in negotiations, but we demand no less than 100%. We’ve been underfunded for so long … we demand it on behalf of teachers and students.
“That money is the equivalent of well over 10,000 teachers, full-time equivalent … we could reduce class sizes, give more one-on-one attention, employment of additional specialist teachers.”
Despite promises from successive governments since the Gonski review, the SRS has never been met in Australian public schools.
This is partly due to the complexity of funding arrangements around schools between the commonwealth and states.
State governments are responsible for 80% of funding for public, and 20% of funding for private schools, with the federal government responsible for the remainder.
This leaves states, that have more limited budgets than the federal government, with more responsibility for public education. As recurrent expenditure on schools has increased with population growth and inflation, the funding gap between public and private schools has widened in most states and territories.
Western Australia is the first state to receive new federal funding to close the gap, bringing all public schools in the state up to 100% of SRS by 2026.
Under the agreement with the federal government, WA will receive $777.4 million in additional funding from 2025 to 2029, with the most disadvantaged public schools to be funded first.
The WA government has committed to investing at least an equivalent amount over this period, bringing the total funding pool to $1.6 billion.
“This is a landmark moment in the history of public education in Western Australia and for building a better and fairer education system,” Clare said.
“The WA agreement is just the first step.
“I look forward to continuing to work with my State and Territory colleagues to close this funding gap and invest in the reforms that will lift student outcomes.”
In an effort to patch the system, the federal government commissioned a discussion paper on fairer school funding late last year. Clare said this has informed his work around the new National School Reform Agreement (NSRA), attempting to create more funding certainty for public schools.
The paper identified seven reform directions underpinned by specific, measurable, evidence-based recommendations and targets that could be prioritised under the next NSRA, including attracting and retaining more teachers.
“Being a teacher is the most important job in the world and we don’t have enough of them. There are lots of reasons for that. One of them is about respect,” Clare said.
“That’s what the ‘Be That Teacher’ campaign is all about, valuing our teachers and elevating the profession.
“We have also launched new teaching scholarships worth up to $40,000 each to encourage more people to study to become a teacher.”
The NSW Department of Education revealed the effects of funding and skill shortages on the education system late last year.
They found a daily shortfall of more than 3,000 teachers, leading to 9,800 classes a day going untaught.
Shortages are not evenly spread across the system, with rural, regional and remote schools more likely to be seriously affected by short staffing and under-resourcing.
Along with childcare and health service shortages, this has left many feeling they are starting life behind, and staying behind.
“We can’t underestimate the impact of the teacher shortages. However, to address teacher shortages, you need to go to things that matter,” Rajendra said.
“These are very unfortunate circumstances, but they can be addressed.
“Nobody expects this to be fixed tomorrow, but to have the necessary investment provides for the structural reform we need to salaries, workload, time for teachers with their students and insecure employment.”
Negotiations between the federal and state governments on a new education funding model are expected to be finalised later this year.
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