Marshall’s $100 school fee scandal 

AEU SA Branch media release: Thursday 3 March 2022

Cash strapped families will welcome the subsidy; however, it diverts attention from the schools funding agreement between the Marshall and Morrison Governments that entrenches inequity between the public and private systems.

Andrew Gohl, President of the Australian Education Union, SA Branch said, “This is cynical, populist, pre-election politics."

Gonski identified a measure called the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) – the amount of public funding required by a school to meet its students’ educational needs.

The Marshall Government signed up to a deal that by 2029 will see public schools in SA underfunded at 90.5% of the SRS, while private schools will be overfunded at 101% of the SRS. Simply put, this means that private schools are overstaffed, and public schools are understaffed in a funding arrangement that formalises student disadvantage and inequity. 

Mr Gohl said, “Forget the paltry $100 for school fees. Under this state government individual students with learning needs are missing out on thousands of dollars of support. Between 2019 and 2029 cumulative South Australian government funding for public and private schools will see public schools lose $4,100 million while private schools gain $181 million." ('Get Gonski Back on Track', T Cobbold, February 2022)

“The structural inequity in public school funding, perpetuated by the Marshall Government, is a scandalous disgrace,” said Mr Gohl.

Nationally public schools enrol more than 80% of disadvantaged students, 80% of students from low socio-economic students, 84% of Aboriginal students, 86% of students with extensive disabilities and 82% of remote and rural students. Over 90% of the most disadvantaged schools are in the public system.

‘World class’ education is an empty slogan while this funding inequity exists. The AEU calls upon the political parties to immediately commit to reversing the funding inequity and fast track public school funding to 100% of the SRS.