BUNBURY Bishop Gerard Holohan has called on the Prime Minister to guarantee before the election that Commonwealth funding for Catholic schools under the new Commonwealth funding 2013–2016 agreement will at least continue to be maintained in real terms, and indexed to the cost of educating a student in a government school.
The Bishop said that Julia Gillard, who was installed as Prime Minister after a controversial leadership spill on 24 June, has refused to give this guarantee, adding that she has promised only that no school will be worse off in dollar terms under the next funding agreement.
“Political parties need to be straightforward and honest with parents of students in Catholic schools in these matters,” said Bishop Holohan, the former chair of the Australian Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education.
“They should avoid any form of dissembling.
“Let us have no pre-election reassuring sentiments only to find, after the election, that our post 2013 Commonwealth funding has been cut in real dollar terms, and that parents will have to pay higher fees to meet higher school costs.”
The election is expected to be held as early as next month though, at time of writing, one had not been called yet. Bishop Holohan said that any freeze of school funding levels under any new Commonwealth funding formula would be unfair.
Teacher salary costs alone will continue to escalate at around four per cent per year, not to mention other costs.
If there were to be a future funding freeze, Bishop Holohan said that this would lead to:
– School fees needing to rise to pay the gap between Commonwealth funding and rising school costs
– The commitment of Catholic schools to disadvantaged students would be threatened
– The Western Australian scheme guaranteeing that parents on Health Cards will pay no more to attend a Catholic school than they would pay in a government school.
While noting that the Prime Minister has established a funding review committee, Bishop Holohan said that she could easily reassure parents if the current funding formula was not, in fact, under threat.
Commonwealth and State funding for Catholic schools is slightly less than half the combined funding given to government schools.
The Bishop also described the Opposition as “being asleep” on this issue. He called on both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, to guarantee before the next election that:
– Future Commonwealth funding for Catholic schools will at least be maintained in real, not just dollar, terms
– The Commonwealth grant for every Catholic school student will be indexed to the grant for every government school student
– Catholic schools will continue to be funded through the Catholic school system on a needs basis
– There will be funding increases at least for Catholic schools which serve students of real disadvantage.