Federal education minister attacks education union report finding almost half of principals believe their school is ‘under-resourced’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Nine out of 10 principals say needs-based education funding is making a “significant difference” to their schools, according to a survey by the education union.

The Australian Education Union State of Our Schools report, released on Wednesday, finds that extra funding is being spent on student support staff and professional development for teachers but schools still struggle to fill vacancies.

The survey of 9,741 AEU members, including 1,428 principals and 7,513 teachers, will fuel calls by the Labor opposition that higher funding levels are needed to improve school performance.

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Labor has promised to restore $30bn in funding growth cut in the 2014 budget from years five and six of needs-based funding agreements.

The Coalition is still yet to announce how funding will be distributed from 2018 and argues extra funding is not required for improvement, and that total spending is still increasing to $20.1bn in 2020 from $16bn in 2016.

The AEU survey found a big rise in principals reporting staff shortages, with 51% reporting shortages in 2017, up from 37% in 2016 and 28% in 2015.

In 2017, 58% agreed it was getting harder to fill staff vacancies, up from 48% the year before. The three disciplines for which it is hardest to find teachers are maths, science and technology.

Almost half (46%) of all principals say their school is under-resourced, although just 7% said they were “significantly” under-resourced. Some 42% say they have adequate resources and 12% say they are well-resourced, with little change in these measures since 2016.

Victoria and Tasmania had the highest proportion of principals saying their schools are not adequately resourced, 57% and 56% respectively.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, has criticised Victoria for investing less per student than other states and for failing to guarantee its share of needs-based funding in years five and six of education agreements while calling on the commonwealth to do the same.

The post-2018 funding model is set to be debated at the Council of Australian Governments in the first half of the year, although the states including Victoria have lobbied for the meeting of education ministers to examine proposed models first.

The AEU survey found 67% of principals reported their schools had received Gonski funding. The union said that “virtually no” schools in Western Australia and the Northern Territory had received such funding, although the report on government services released in February showed both states received a boost in per student funding from the federal government.

Of those who knew they had received Gonski funding 90% of principals reported it made a significant difference to their schools, up from 84% last year. Principals of schools receiving over $200,000 were particularly pleased, with 94% agreeing with the proposition.

Only 19% of principals receiving Gonski funding believed the amount so far has been enough to cover the full level of need at their school, it found.



Asked what schools were using extra funding for, the most common were additional support staff (54%), professional development for teachers (51%), additional specialist literary and numeracy teachers or coaches (47%), one-on-one support for students with learning difficulties (35%) and cutting class sizes (22%).

When asked who would miss out if the final two years of needs-based funding agreements are not delivered, respondents nominated students falling behind in literary or numeracy (84%), those with disabilities or learning difficulties (62%), and disengaged students at risk of dropping out (43%).

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Birmingham told Guardian Australia the report was “filled with mistruths and ‘alternative facts’ and it is an embarrassment to all the hard-working and wonderful teachers [the union claims] to represent”, citing the fact schools funding has increased despite claims of under-resourcing.

“Our funding growth means there’s no reason schools won’t be able to continue to support teachers and new or existing initiatives, such as specialist teachers or targeted intervention programs.”

The shadow federal education minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the report shows “Labor’s extra investment was working to improve schools”.

“Which is why it’s impossible to understand why the Liberals are cutting $30bn from schools,” she said.

The Victorian education minister, James Merlino, said it would “take time” for its investment in Victorian education to undo cuts of the previous state Liberal government.

“Simon Birmingham is treating our classrooms as political footballs,” he said. “He is trying to distract people from the fact that the Turnbull government is ripping almost $1bn from Victorian students by walking away from Gonski funding.”