QUEENSLAND Catholic Education Commission executive director Mike Byrne says some key questions remain unanswered before the potential implications of the Federal Government’s Gonski review of school funding report become clear.
“While the report recommends a new model for school funding in broad terms, further detail and analysis is required to fully understand how its forty-one recommendations would impact on funding levels for the Catholic sector,” Mr Byrne said after the report was released on Monday.
He said the review proposed a new model that included a base “resource standard” level of funding for all students with additional loadings for disadvantaged students.
“The capacity of parents to contribute would then be incorporated into funding calculations for Catholic and independent schools,” he said.
Mr Byrne said a period of government consultation in response to the report would follow.
“The Catholic sector will also be represented on a series of government reference groups to examine how different aspects of the proposed model might translate into practice,” he said.
“We remain concerned about the number of unanswered questions and the amount of modelling and other work that will be required in a short timeframe.
“I encourage all stakeholders in Catholic education to remain vigilant as further details of the funding model and the Government’s intentions emerge over the coming weeks.”
Mr Byrne said Catholic schools already operated at 90 per cent of the resources available in government schools.
“We will be working hard to ensure that we do not end up with a funding model that has the potential to put pressure on school fees for parents in Catholic schools,” he said.
The Government has stated it would ensure that any new model adopted would provide that no school lost a dollar per student as a result of this funding review.
Key Gonski recommendations include additional $5 billion in school funding with a particular focus on equity funding for schools and students with special educational needs; and funding to be allocated according to a per student payment consisting of a combination of a base payment and additional loadings for disadvantaged students.
The full Gonksi report along with information about participation in consultation processes is available on the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) website at http://www.schoolfunding.gov.au/
Further information about Catholic school funding is available at www.fundinginfo.catholic.edu.au
