Funding 'unacceptable' for 200 NSW schools

The Teachers Federation has criticised the NSW government's new funding model for leaving nearly 200 schools behind.

Primary school students in class.

The Teachers Federation has criticised the NSW government's new school funding model. (AAP)

The NSW Teachers Federation says it is "unacceptable" that nearly 190 schools will receive less money under the state's new needs-based funding model.

While they said the new system announced by the government on Tuesday is a "significant development", it was "unacceptable" that 187 schools could be as much as $50,000 a year worse off.

"On behalf of these school communities, the Federation will be calling on the Minister to allocate the relatively modest amount of additional funding required to ensure no school dips below current funding levels," President Maurie Mulheron said in a statement.

She also criticised the government's Resource Allocation Model, which will see schools, rather than the government, manage their budget, saying it opens the way for buck-passing.

"Devolving responsibility for budgets, resources and staffing to the local school level like this has been used to blame school principals and staff for the shortfalls and problems caused by a reduction in government investment," she said.

The new system distributes money based on students' socio-economic backgrounds.

The funding, which includes an additional $100 million from the federal government's Gonski agreement, will be rolled out across state schools from next year.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world