By Luke Voogt
Threats of private school funding cuts are creating alarm and uncertainty amongst local parents, according Geelong College principal Peter Miller.
A group of peak independent education bodies on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warning private schools could lose $1 billion in funding over a decade.
“It’s a huge problem at the moment,” Dr Miller said.
“Very little is clear about this. We are not getting any indication really at the moment of what the long-term implications will be.”
New methods of calculating socio-economic status (SES) and Gonski 2.0 arrangements could lead to a shift of money to the Catholic sector, Independent Schools Victoria warned.
The body and its NSW and SA counterparts expressed alarm at reports Federal Government is preparing to “appease” Catholic schools at the expense of the independent sector.
Under proposed changes federal Government will calculate its support for private schools based parents’ tax returns rather postcode.
But income did not necessarily translate to wealth, Dr Miller explained.
“We used to have certainty over our SES,” he said.
“We are seeking that certainty so we can plan for programs and resources – which include teachers.”
The changes could lead to funding losses for local private schools like Geelong College and the Commonwealth had failed to provide possible transition plans, Dr Miller said.
“If there is a loss of funding how will the goalposts move?
“Some areas might do better but some schools might get smashed.
“None of these things have been answered. It has been put to us that this could be happening next year – which is outrageous.”
Funding shortfalls could force the college to raise fees, reduce programs or take other cost-cutting measures, Dr Miller said.
“Higher fees is probably the lazy way of doing it but the same time you want to maintain the same high-quality services for children.
“This is very much a community school as well. It’s very much hooked into Geelong – as it has been for the last 150 years.”
