COALITION OF REGIONAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS AUSTRALIA
Coalition of Regional Independent Schools Australia
COALITION OF REGIONAL INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS AUSTRALIA
PRESS RELEASE
3 March 2020
REGIONAL SCHOOLS FUNDING HIT
The Federal Government has dealt regional communities another blow, pulling millions of dollars from independent schools and potentially forcing many to close.
According to the Coalition for Regional Independent Schools, involving fifty schools from States and Territories across Australia, the majority of established regional independent schools will each be stripped of more than a million dollars a year under this new model, forcing them to cut programs, increase fees and, in some instances, potentially close their doors.
The Chair of the Coalition, Stephen Higgs, said: "Independent schools are often the heart and soul of local regional communities and the adoption of this flawed methodology will hurt many parents, students and families.
"We support a means-based funding scheme, but the proposed application of this new model fails the fundamental tests of fairness and transparency on which it was supposed to be based," he said.
The current proposal before Parliament is based on the tax records of parents and only measures the median income of a school community. This takes no account of the diversity of incomes often seen in regional school communities which support many low-income families.
"Regional communities, many already reeling from the effects of drought, bushfires, and even floods, must be given immediate guarantees that their school funding will not be slashed.
"We are calling on the Government to ensure funding fairness for all independent schools under any new model," he said.
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