Funding 'continues to favour private schools'

There are calls to overhaul the Commonwealth school funding system,with new research showing it continues to favour the private sector,which represents about one-third of all students.

There are calls to overhaul the Commonwealth school funding system, with new research showing it continues to favour the private sector, which represents about one-third of all students.

Federal funding for public schools is on the rise, but its share remains less than the non-government sectors, research conducted by University of Sydney academic Dr Jim McMorrow shows.

By 2013 private schools will receive $47 billion in federal funding, compared to $35 billion for government schools.

And that will take the public sector's share to about 36 per cent, according to the Australian Education Union (AEU)-commissioned data.

'Dysfunctional system'

Dr McMorrow says the imbalance is the product of an "unfair and dysfunctional" funding system that should be changed.

The education union and Australian Greens agree, and want the issue addressed in the government's upcoming review of school funding.

"The ... funding system delivers levels of funding to private schools that cannot be justified," AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos said in a statement.

Funding model 'short-sighted'

Greens education spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young also says it's an issue of equity.

"Unless the Rudd government changes its focus ... this short-sighted model will continue to short-change future generations," she said in a statement.

But federal Education Minister Julia Gillard says any comparison of school funding must include state spending.

"State governments are the predominant funders of government schools, making any direct comparison with Commonwealth funding disingenuous," she said in a statement.

'Squabbling'

The group representing more than 1,100 independent schools says the union should be calling for increased funding, not squabbling about the share.

"If they (public schools) need more money then they should be out there fighting for that," Independent Schools Council of Australia spokesman Barry Wallet told ABC Radio.

"But it shouldn't be at the expense of educational outcomes for students whose parents choose not to send them to government schools."

The federal government has said it will review the funding model in the lead-up to 2013, when the next four-year funding deal is due to start.