Giving parents choice in education was the key message from Prime Minister Scott Morrison today, in announcing a new private schools funding injection.
The federal government is putting forward an additional $4.6 billion into new packages and measures towards non-state schools within the next decade.
From 2020, the Commonwealth will transition to a new method of calculating how non-state schools are funded to make education “fairer and more equitable”, the Prime Minister said.
A total of $3.2 billion will support students, teachers and parents – giving families more affordable choices in a diverse schooling system, he said.
A total of $1.2 billion will provide extra support in remote and drought-affected areas and under-performing schools.
Parental income tax records will also for the first time ever be used to assess the socio-economic status (SES) of private schools.
Under the existing SES score methodology, parents’ capacity to contribute towards their children’s schooling is calculated on the average SES score for the census districts where students live.
In July this year, former education minister Simon Birmingham backed an independent report that stated parental income was a more reliable way to determine a school community’s capacity to contribute to the recurrent costs of the school.
The report found that using direct parental income data would be an “evolution” in the way non-government schools’ funding is distributed.
Education Minister Dan Tehan said he acknowledged the work of former education minister Simon Birmingham, in his efforts leading up to the latest announcement.
“We are accepting all of the six recommendations in the Chaney review,” he said. “We are creating certainty going forward in the Catholic and independent sectors.”
