Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, welcomed the announcement that the Federal Government has reached an agreement with the Tasmanian Government to better fund all public schools in the state.
“Every child deserves to have what they need to succeed in school and teachers deserve to have the resources they need to provide students with this opportunity,” Mr Wilkie said. “That’s why I welcome the announcement that the Commonwealth has reached a funding agreement with the Tasmanian Government to fully fund all public schools in the state to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).
“Since the Gonski reforms set up the SRS in 2011, I have consistently advocated with successive Federal Governments to adopt 100 per cent funding for public schools. I most recently supported the Australian Education Union’s For Every Child campaign to secure full funding for public schools by 2028.
“As the Gonski report noted, “funding for schooling must not be seen simply as a financial matter. Rather, it is about investing to strengthen and secure Australia’s future.” Today’s announcement is the first downpayment on this investment, and will go a long way towards ensuring the needs of all students in Tasmania are met. The funding should allow public schools to reduce class sizes, increase one-on-one support for students and provide more assistance for teachers in the classroom.
“However, this is only a modest investment from the Federal Government. They are only increasing their funding for Tasmanian public schools by 2.5 per cent to 22.5 per cent and requiring the State Government to cover the remaining 77.5 per cent. Moreover under the agreement, schools might not be funded to 100 per cent of their SRS until 2029. I’m sure most teachers and parents would hold concerns that this is far too long when our education system is struggling now. The truth is that this should have happened more than a decade ago.”