NSW Primary Principals Association president Phil Seymour wasn't surprised at figures showing the growth in money allocated for each NSW independent school student was four times higher than their public school counterpart over a decade.
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Analysis of 10 years of funding data which includes school fees and government contributions showed each NSW public school student increased by $583 after inflation between 2009 and 2018, compared with $2520 per student at independent schools and $1612 per student at Catholic schools.
Analysis by the Save Our Schools public education advocacy group, based on recently published school funding data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, shows NSW had a wider income gap across school sectors than all states except Victoria.
Mr Seymour, a former Hayes Park Public School principal, believes the federal government has 'bastardised' the Gonski funding system so that it doesn't focus the funding on demonstrated need.
"The difficulty is public schools cater for the majority of children from low SES (socio economic status) backgrounds and therefore should have the majority of the funding and they don't," he said.
"The Gonski model was aimed at looking to give equity to wherever the need is regardless of school.....but the current federal government has bastardised the system.
"I have colleagues working in all sectors and they all believe we should have funding that is needs based and sector blind.
"But the federal government seems to be pandering to interest groups.....it is a farce."
The average student at a NSW public school had $14,979 spent on their education, compared with $15,480 per Catholic school student and $24,213 per independent school student.
Report author Trevor Cobbold, a former Productivity Commission economist and Save Our Schools convener, said the disparity was due to higher private school fees and increased Commonwealth funding for independent schools, as well as cuts to state funding for public schools.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said the federal government, which is the major funder of private schools, was putting more money into schools and asking states to do the same.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was funding public schools at their highest levels, $16.6 billion this year, and had signed the Gonski 2.0 deal that would provide an additional $6.4 billion to government schools.
A spokesman for the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong pointed to the My School website in its defence.
"in 2018 each Catholic primary school student in the Wollongong diocese received 10 per cent ($1329) less in government funding than their public school counterparts. In systemic secondary schools, each Catholic school student received 16 per cent ($2500) less in government funding than public school students," he said.
"In total, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools receive approximately 80 per cent of total recurrent funding from government sources, relying on contributions from parents and carers to cover the remaining 20 per cent.
"We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of the Commonwealth and NSW Government, as well as the generous families and other supporters who make up our vibrant Catholic school communities in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Macarthur and Southern Highlands regions."
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