State Government submission: Turnbull to deny $100M to Tasmanian schools

The Tasmanian Government submission to the Senate inquiry into school funding reveals that $100M funding will be denied to Tasmanian schools under Malcolm Turnbull’s plan to stop Gonski rollout at the end of next year, the AEU said today.

“The State Government acknowledges* in the submission that Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal to stop Gonski will entrench disadvantage in Tasmania by denying generations of kids the support they need at school to reach their potential,” said Helen Richardson, AEU Tasmanian Branch President.

“Our schools cannot afford to be denied $100M in funding – that is what pays for the essentials kids need like more teachers, smaller classes, more individual tuition, and targeted support with literacy and numeracy,” said Ms Richardson.

“All sectors will be denied their share of $100M Gonski funding but our public schools take a further hit by Turnbull’s plan to redistribute public school funding among states – for Tasmania that means our funding goes down by $14M, from 2018 onwards.

“This is another indication of Mr Turnbull’s lack of support for public schools, which he clearly wants to stop funding altogether and which would particularly disadvantage Tasmania.

“We have many kids with high and complex needs, which are serious barriers to learning. These students can least afford to be denied resources if they are to have a fair go at getting a great education.”

“The State Government rightly points out that we have the highest need of all states or territories so it’s critical that they pull out all stops to secure Gonski school funding and are supported in that fight by Tasmanian Federal Government MPs.”

On 4 February 2016, the Senate established the Select Committee on School Funding Investment to inquire into the effect of reduced Commonwealth funding for state and territory schools.

The Tasmanian Government submission shows that $100M in Gonski funding will be denied to the State’s schools, over 2018 & 2019, under Mr Turnbull’s plan to end the Gonski rollout at the end of 2017 – two years short of full implementation.

The submission also reveals that Mr Turnbull’s plan to redistribute public school funding, via a new flat-rate funding formula, means the Federal funding Tasmania receives for public schools is cut by $14M, from 2018 onwards.

*“However, it is considered that only committing to four years of Student First [Gonski] funding will not be sufficient to see the levels of sustainable generational change that we all want to see.” (Tasmanian Government School Funding Submission, pg. 1, 17 March 2016)

Download Tasmanian Government submission …

Tasmanian_Government_Submission.pdf
Harriet Binet, AEU Communications