Funding private schools a public good

Watching students, teachers and parents enjoy the annual celebrations of Catholic Education Week has reinforced the short sighted nature of recent criticism of our system.

A report detailing the need for Victorian schools to accommodate an extra 100,000 plus students over the next 10 years to meet the effect of a 2008 baby boom claimed that Catholic schools would not be able to shoulder their share of the demand, placing even more pressure on government schools.

This is patently untrue.

Catholic education is well down the path to further improve existing facilities and build more new schools in Melbourne’s growth corridors because record numbers of families are already turning to Catholic schools to provide for their children’s future.

Another reason those growth plans are in play is the confidence and certainty that came with a commitment last year for guaranteed Victorian Government funding.

To those associated with the sectarian discourse surrounding a vote to forever legislate Catholic school funding at 25% of the cost of a state school education I say, stop looking for an argument and study the facts.

Both major parties took this policy to the polls at last year’s election in the interests of parents seeking a high quality and affordable educational choice.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy have stood by those commitments because it is not only right, it is fair and it is reasonable.

Overlooked in the blinkered stance of some commentators is the fact that without a strong Catholic system many public schools would buckle under the strain of larger class sizes while increased teacher workloads would inevitably lead to a decrease in results.

The latest MySchool data shows that if government was forced to pick up the cost of educating the one in four  students who attend the 493 Catholic schools in Victoria the bill would be huge. Based on current figures, close to $3billion over the school-life of a child who began prep this year.

And that brings us to the 25 per cent figure the Catholic-state school linkage agreement is built on.

Catholic schools have historically received around 25 per cent if not more from the Victorian government in the past. Our schools were in fact funded at 25% of state schools from 2010 in what was then a term by term agreement.

It is mischievous, at best, to suggest that our schools will receive a bucket of money containing 25 per cent of whatever the state government provides to public schools. There are several exclusions to the formula used to calculate the pool, including priority provision for special schools and specific federal contributions.

Put simply, the almost 12,000 students in highest-need of financial assistance are catered for first.

The other major misrepresentation is the suggestion that state government dollars are unfairly distributed. The Victorian Government carefully funds non-government schools based on their assessed needs.

All monies received by Catholic education are then distributed according to a needs-based model as agreed by Catholic school policy committees that involve a range of in-school leaders. I see our Catholic ethos in action each year at that gathering when principals with a reasonable funding case recognise and support other schools in greater need.

In 2014 the biggest increases in government funding within Catholic education were provided to schools with the highest-need students and school communities with the lowest capacity to pay fees.

Our needs-based model includes factors over and above those identified by the Gonski review, such as refugee support and Vocational Education and Training in schools and is essentially no different to the approach taken by the Victorian government to distribute funding to state government schools.

So, Education Minister James Merlino did not “cave into the Cathoilic Education Office” as has been written in recent days. He simply recognised that providing security for over two hundred thousand Victorian students would produce the best value for government money and ensure the best and most effective use of parent contributions.

And the final element perhaps conveniently overlooked is the fact that when total government funds are taken into account, Victorian Catholic schools operate on 10 per cent less than public schools.

That last point comes complete with a warning for the Gonski cheer squad still clinging to a noble but ultimately lost cause and the anti-parent choice brigade.

We will soon begin negotiations in Canberra to try and alleviate the funding shortfall, because it is right, fair and reasonable.