Pyne, you’re wrong again: schools will lose money under Coalition

Media Release.

24 June 2013

Christopher Pyne once again confirmed that Tony Abbott’s Coalition would be a $16 billion disaster for schools.
He has again pledged to keep the current broken school funding model that would short-change students and fail to deliver new money to schools.
He said:

“We will keep the status quo in terms of school funding for at least a year … We’ll keep the AGSRC (Average Government School Recurrent Costs) indexation rate…”
[Christopher Pyne, doorstop interview - June 24, 2013]

The status quo is the problem. The AGSRC indexation rate is the problem.

“The status quo would see NSW worse off and what essentially the federal Coalition is saying is the status quo.”
[NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, SMH – May 25, 2013]

The current broken indexation rate funding has declined and will continue to, our children will be short changed and Australia will be left behind.
Schools would lose more than $16 billion over the next six years under the system Mr Pyne wants to keep.
He doesn’t understand how the current school funding model operates. His claim that retaining the broken funding model would mean no school would be worse off does not stand up to scrutiny:

“… [this] means that no school can be worse off and we’re the only political party that can promise that no school will be worse off.” [doorstop interview - June 24, 2013]

The truth is if we keep the current model, schools will lose money as states continue to cut funding to schools and indexation goes backwards.
Commonwealth indexation for schools is now 3.9 per cent and is expected to fall to 3 per cent next year. But under the National Plan, we are prepared to lock in a higher rate of indexation – at 4.7 per cent – along with extra funding to make sure every school has the resources it needs to provide the best education for students.
Under the Coalition, there would be no new money for schools.
They plan to stick to a flawed school funding model that the independent Gonski review found is unfair, lacks transparency and is leaving too many schools and students behind.
Not only is Mr Pyne not offering schools one cent in additional funding – he is promising them a system that could see the overall funding for schools go backwards.
Our plan is supported by schools, parents and experts and will deliver a new, needs-based funding system and school improvement reforms like higher teaching standards and more local decision-making.

Peter Garrett AM
Federal Member for Kingsford Smith
Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth