Enrolments over equality in money model shift
Gonski is all but gone in the wake of savage budget cuts this week, with the bold funding reforms to be scrapped just as they hit their stride.
The federal government has buried its commitment to fund the final two years of the so-called ‘Gonski agreement’, scrapping the years in which the majority of extra funds were set to flow.
Under the Gonski model, each student is allocated a base level of funding, with extra considerations for disadvantage and disability.
From 2018, inflation and enrolments will be the metric by which the Commonwealth allocates increases in school funding.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne says the government is honouring its commitments, investing “record recurrent funding” over the next four years, record funding which was formed under the previous government’s education model.
Pyne claims schools can produce better outcomes through more control, even if they have less funding.
“We are putting students first in our schools and implementing key reforms, including a focus on teacher quality and school autonomy, that will help lift student outcomes,” he said.
The Australian Education Union disagrees, saying the changes in the budget will “entrench disadvantage” and harm schools across Australia.
Union president Angelo Gavrielatos says the scheme will be scrapped just as two-thirds of the funding was to be delivered, planned for the final two years of the original six-year agreements.
“If Gonski is abandoned, up to 20 per cent of schools will not meet minimum resource standards, hurting the education of their students,” he told Fairfax Media.
Australian Government Primary Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh says schools will be forced to cut their additional literacy and numeracy support, as the with the Commonwealth's National Partnerships funding has now expired.
The billions of dollars in additional funding in the Gonski deal was to cover the National Partnerships money, but will now be withheld.
The school funding cuts are a large part of the outrage expressed by state leaders since the handing down of the federal budget.
Premiers and chief ministers have organised emergency meetings to form their stance on the moves to cut $80 billion of federal money to the lower tier of government.