Public school underspending - why blame the Commonwealth?

Recently Green Senators failed to pass their Australian Education Amendment (Save Our Public Schools) Bill to increase the Commonwealth’s share of the Gonski Student Resource Standard (SRS) for public schools from its current 20 per cent to 25 per cent.

Such exhortations ignore that it is the states and territories that are constitutionally responsible for all schools, run the public school system with 65 per cent of all students, and it is they, not the Commonwealth, that have been the real laggards in school spending especially for their own public schools.

Blaming the Commonwealth allows the states and territories to avoid taking responsibility for this neglect and confuses who should be held accountable for how much we spend on education and its effectiveness.    

The facts are that during the last two decades the states and territories have been reducing their proportionate share of government funding to both public and non-government schools.

Between 2005-6 and 2014-15 Commonwealth funding to all schools rose by 58.2 per cent while the states’ increases were just 18 per cent. While Commonwealth support for public schools increased by 72 per cent, for the states it was only 9.4 per cent.

More concerning, following the 2017 amendments to the Australian Education Act that provided for a fairer and more transparent system, and massive federal funding increases, the states have failed to meet their legislated obligations.  

For instance, under the new legislation the states were to increase their spending to meet 80 per cent of the required funding for Gonski School Resource Standard for public schools by 2023. The Commonwealth would increase its share to 20 per cent.  

Arguing the required increases were too onerous, the states had the target reduced to 75 per cent of the SRS, but by 2023 only three states achieved this new reduced target (WA, ACT and SA). The rest got extensions – NSW by 2025, Tasmania in 2027, Victoria in 2028, and Queensland by time of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

Meanwhile the Commonwealth met its obligations and all public school systems now receive their 20 per cent share of the SRS. While the Commonwealth’s funding increases are legislated and must be implemented (including indexation arrangements for inflation), state education expenditure is part of the annual budget cycle and politically driven. 

Even when all the states and territories reach the 75 per cent they will be 5 per cent below the original 80 per cent target so many state schools will remain underfunded compared to the required SRS.

Yet no mention is made of this huge gap by the Greens, state teacher unions, or principal associations.

Nor is there any mention that in the past decade (2011-12 to 2020-21) state government funding for public schools has increased in real terms by around 2-3 per cent per annum, whilst Commonwealth funding for public schools rose by around 4-6 per cent per annum.

Indeed, since 2014 Commonwealth funding has risen at a faster rate for state public schools compared to the non-government sector (53 per cent to 23 per cent). Meanwhile the states have increased their funding for non-government schools at the same rate of state schools – just 12 per cent.

Also ignored is that the Commonwealth’s direct school funding is supplemented by general revenue untied grants to the states which according to federal budget papers provided in 2023-4 over 58 per cent of the revenue that the states spend on education.

Finally, let’s be clear – public schools receive more government funding per student than non-government students. In 2021-22 total government funding per public school student was $22,511 compared to $14,032 for non-government students.

The protest buses to Canberra demanding more Commonwealth funding are heading in the wrong direction. They should be parked outside state premiers’ and education ministers’ offices loudly hailing them to take up their education responsibilities and provide the level of funding they promised, required by law and needed by their own students.    

States say they lack the resources to fully fund their public schools as most run budget deficits thanks but it’s a matter of priorities – when are the states going to put students first?

Also, it is time all realised that the quality of our school education systems resides with the states, not the Commonwealth. It is the states that register and regulate all schools, set the curriculum, employ most teachers and accredit teacher courses.

In further proof of the states’ negligence The National School Resourcing Board that monitors the school funding model reporting last year on regional and remote school funding, found poor cooperation from the states in providing data and a lack of transparency in how funding was allocated. Nothing substantive has happened about that report.

Only when the states are held to account, when they are asked to take responsibility for the constitutional powers they hold so dear, will Australia address our continuing education performance slide.