Private school funding to be reviewed

(AAP) - The federal government has refused to say whether private schools will be worse off from 2013 when a new funding agreement comes into effect.

Education Minister Julia Gillard was drawn into a discussion on schools funding
after it was revealed Labor would deliver an estimated 32 per cent increase in
funding to private schools over the next four years.
The commonwealth will pour $26.2 billion into private schools' coffers during that
time, analysis by the Greens shows.
Ms Gillard says the increase is due to a rise in the number of students attending
non-government schools.
"I've seen some of the figures bandied around in today's newspapers and obviously
those figures arise, in part, from growth in non-government schools, particularly in
growing outer urban communities where new schools are being built because new
families come to live with new children who need education," Ms Gillard told
reporters.
Private schools are funded under the controversial socio-economic status (SES)
model, introduced by the former Howard government.
It assesses need according to the average wealth of the census district in which
students live, rather than a private school's actual resources.
Labor has maintained the model until 2012 but will conduct a review next year to
examine whether it's sustainable and equitable in the longer term.
That review will be "open, transparent and timely", Ms Gillard said on Monday.
"But it will affect funding from 2013 and beyond so there's plenty of time."
Ms Gillard side-stepped questions about whether private schools would be worse off
in the future.
"We want every school to be a great school," she said.
"We have been about delivering more resources to education. As a government we're
passionate about education for every child in every classroom in every school."
Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos says there's no doubt the
Rudd government has delivered "significant" investments in education since being
elected.
But it was "highly regrettable" Labor chose to retain the discredited SES funding
model until the end of 2012, he said.
"We consider next year's review to be of utmost importance because it should inform
the architecture of schools funding well into the future," Mr Gavrielatos told AAP.
"It provides the opportunity for the Rudd government to give true meaning and effect
to their policy, which recognises that the primary obligation of governments is to
properly and adequately fund government schools."
Mr Gavrielatos said Australia would only have true equity in education when
government schools set the standard for high-quality teaching.