Government votes against non-government school funding

The Gillard Government has given the strongest indication yet that non-government school funding will be cut in the next funding agreement, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

“Labor voted against a motion in the Senate that endorsed current non-government school funding levels and indexation as the minimum benchmark for any new funding agreement,” Mr Pyne said.

“The motion was also rejected by Labor’s alliance partners, the Greens, who are on the record wanting to strip funding from non-government schools,” he said. 

“This was the Government’s big chance to put to rest fears that non-government school funding would be cut, forcing up school fees and resulting in job losses.

“This is very bad news for families with children in non-government schools who are already struggling with cost of living pressures.

“It is also bad news for teachers and other staff in the non-government sector who are worried about the impact of funding cuts on their employment.

“Peter Garrett has previously claimed that non-government schools will not lose ‘one dollar of funding’ but has refused to guarantee funding will be indexed. Now we know the answer – non-government school funding will be cut. 

“The best hope for non-government schools now is that a Coalition Government is elected before the current arrangements expire at the end of 2013,” Mr Pyne said.

August 18, 2011

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