New school funding model a shambles

Labor has been forced to extend the deadline on their new school funding model with no new States signing on and the entire shambolic process unfolding, said the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne today. At the same time, the Commonwealth Auditor-General Mr Ian McPhee in a letter confirmed that over the next three years, on average Australia’s 3.4 million school students will only see $23 per year in new funding. “The Auditor-General’s analysis found that over the next three years there is only $236 million in new funding. He also found that over two of the next three years, funding was actually less than it would have been under the current model,” Mr Pyne said. “This works out to as little as an extra $23 per student per year over the next three years. The river of gold that Labor is promising schools is off the Budget forward estimates and doesn’t exist. “The Coalition’s analysis found another $1.2 billion decrease in funding over the last two Budgets from non-government school funding, meaning overall there is a $325 million cut to schools. “Currently only two States and one Territory have agreed. Without a national agreement there is no funding model. “Only the Coalition is offering funding certainty. If elected we will move immediately to assess the damage Labor has created and amend or repeal the necessary legislation to ensure that all schools continue to receive their current quantum of funding plus indexation. “I can guarantee that no school will be worse off under a Coalition Government,” Mr Pyne said. 28 June 2013