Press Release 969

 

AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF

GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

Press Release 969

PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AWASH WITH PUBLIC MONEY AND ENDOWMENTS, ARE POACHING PUBLIC SCHOOL STAFF

23 February 2023

 

The private school system is a parasitic system – dependent upon the main, public system and public funding for teacher training, curriculum development, and, by virtue of its expulsion policies, boasting an exclusive enrolment image.

Australia’s falling results in international performance tests are evidence of the parasite’s effects upon the host. The diversion of essential public funds away from the public into the private system is bringing both systems into trouble.

The latest evidence of the parasitic nature of the private system has been highlighted by the teacher shortages throughout Australia. The private schools, especially the wealthy exclusive schools, are using their superior public funding and endowments to poach teachers out of the public system.

The Australian Education Union has continued to hear reports from AEU principals of private schools across Victoria poaching teachers from the public school system amid the current staffing shortage crisis.

Many private schools are able to pay salaries that outstrip those in the public system.

Work done by Trevor Cobbold from Save our Schools refers to huge donations and endowments as well as generous public funding enjoyed by the private sector. New figures obtained from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) show that 44 Victorian private schools received nearly $300 million in donations and investment income over five years from 2017 to 2021. Donations totalled $215 million and investment income was $84 million. Just nine schools received $175 million over the period. The average income from these sources was $6.8 million per school over the five years. Each of the 44 schools received more than $1 million over the five years.

Five other schools received over $10 million – Wesley College $10.8 million, Ivanhoe Grammar $10.6 million, Bialik College $10.2 million, Korowa $10.1 million and Xavier College $10.1 million.

Donations and investment income of these wealthy exclusive schools dwarf other private income of public schools. The average such income of Victorian public schools in 2020 was $179 per student. By contrast the donations and investment income of Melbourne Grammar was $5,055 per student and $5,784 per student at Geelong Grammar.

These 44 private schools received $484 million in funding by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments in 2020. This funding was determined without regard to their donations and investment income. The accompanying table from the Charities Commission illustrates these facts.

Donations & Investment Income of Wealthy Private Schools, Victoria

 

 

 

 

 

School

 

 

 

Donations 2017-2021 ($)

 

 

Investment Income 2017-

2021 ($)

 

 

 

 

Total ($)

 

 

 

Govt Funding 2020 ($)

 

 

Fees per Student

2020 ($)

 

C/W SRS

Share 2022

(%)

Students in Top 2 SEA

Quartiles

(%)

 

Melbourne Grammar

 

26,679,820

 

16,501,702

 

43,181,522

 

8,186,472

 

29,216

 

107

 

95

Geelong Grammar

16,346,000

15,705,000

32,051,000

13,157,323

20,198

93

91

Scotch College*

30,153,645

1,231,815

31,385,460

7,385,441

31,407

92

97

Caulfield Grammar

10,398,468

6,590,370

16,988,838

19,195,304

26,943

86

83

Wesley College

10,324,060

485,552

10,809,612

32,325,016

28,412

89

93

Ivanhoe Grammar

1,706,069

8,875,659

10,581,728

14,151,917

24,453

99

90

Bialik College

8,074,774

2,109,778

10,184,552

10,597,346

15,147

83

94

Korowa

9,679,040

452,588

10,131,628

6,553,982

24,699

78

97

Xavvier College

10,042,020

60,504

10,102,524

8,751,003

29,532

 

94

MLC

6,419,760

2,452,214

8,871,974

17,174,697

29,797

98

97

Siena College

6,823,926

212,704

7,036,630

6,823,145

14,208

 

91

St Catherine's School

4,893,401

1,529,992

6,423,393

6,003,592

30,270

78

92

Lauriston

3,671,033

726,320

6,397,353

9,396,921

29,932

86

97

King David School

6,083,308

34,395

6,117,703

4,589,308

18,394

77

96

Haileybury

4,248,448

1,143,000

5,391,448

3,270,766

24,661

97

95

Brighton Grammar

4,520,698

714,390

5,235,088

10,677,426

24,403

100

87

Melbourne Girls Grammar

 

4,983,324

 

39,168

 

5,022,492

 

8,808,419

 

29,786

 

99

 

96

Huntingtower

3,201,791

1,427,418

4,629,209

5,155,817

18,402

 

96

Firbank

2,795,078

1,715,847

4,510,925

8,197,213

21,709

99

92

Carey Grammar

1,029,126

3,258,096

4,287,222

10,101,784

27,928

96

95

St Margaret's Berwick Grammar

 

3,336,828

 

680,983

 

4,017,811

 

7,242,832

 

19,665

 

 

87

Loreto Mandeville Hall

 

2,754,503

 

805,181

 

3,559,684

 

12,657,580

 

25,534

 

 

93

Toorak College

2,800,845

573,645

3,374,490

10,719,792

22,054

95

89

Fintona

2,577,568

771,890

3,349,458

2,447,481

35,757

83

95

Yesodei Hatorah College

 

2,194,928

 

906,055

 

3,100,983

 

3,288,934

 

4,872

 

80

 

82

PLC

1,828,496

1,188,041

3,016,537

8,533,528

25,886

79

97

Mount Scopus Memorial College

 

2,565,346

 

367,069

 

2,932,415

 

12,749,379

 

24,552

 

98

 

96

Geelong College

2,310,888

564,611

2,875,499

10,956,202

22,652

82

90

Ruyton*

1,840,950

878,025

2,718,975

4,104,880

24,340

91

96

Eltham College *

2,706,360

4,039

2,710,399

7,662,085

21,858

85

88

 

St Michaels Grammar

 

982,243

 

1,519,337

 

2,501,580

 

5,732,746

 

25,110

 

96

 

94

Strathcona

1,005,168

1,426,258

2,431,426

7,175,266

24,390

85

91

Ivanhoe Girls Grammar

 

152,606

 

2,275,841

 

2,428,447

 

7,904,213

 

22,310

 

98

 

92

 

 

 

 

 

School

 

 

 

Donations 2017-2021 ($)

 

 

Investment Income 2017-

2021 ($)

 

 

 

 

Total ($)

 

 

 

Govt Funding

2020 ($)

 

 

Fees per Student 2020 ($)

 

C/W SRS

Share

2022 (%)

Students in Top 2

SEA

Quartiles

(%)

Genazzano FCJ College

 

2,269,326

 

6,582

 

2,275,908

 

9,570,949

 

26,130

 

 

91

Penleigh & Essendon Grammar

 

462,337

 

1,775,869

 

2,238,206

 

29,339,681

 

15,737

 

115

 

92

 

St Leonard's College

 

1,959,000

 

259,000

 

2,218,000

 

13,827,847

 

26,171

 

117

 

95

Ballarat Grammar

1,220,063

929,288

2,149,351

22,409,280

12,536

 

81

Waverley Christian College

 

2,026,845

 

4,899

 

2,031,744

 

19,626,126

 

8,333

 

76

 

89

Mentone Grammar

1,319,853

643,786

1,963,639

10,386,945

22,338

104

90

Camberwell Girls Grammar

 

1,673,942

 

178,222

 

1,852,164

 

4,269,130

 

23,054

 

79

 

96

Sacre Coeur

1,081,123

691,118

1,772,241

4,224,205

21,214

 

94

Mentone Girls Grammar

 

1,584,287

 

155,590

 

1,739,877

 

9,121,122

 

22,520

 

97

 

93

Trinity Grammar

774,860

433,839

1,208,699

8,305,129

29,244

94

96

Camberwell Grammar

 

1,066,166

 

44,370

 

1,110,536

 

6,096,874

 

27,958

 

95

 

95

Total

214,568,320

84,350,050

298,918,370

483,855,098

 

 

 

*Donations and investment income for 2017-2020

Sources:

Donations and Investment income: Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission

Government funding, fees, % of students in top 2 socio-educationally advantaged (SEA) quartiles

According to the ABC, in the past 12 months, jobs advertised in inner-city private schools have offered base salaries up to $160,000, and rural principals have reported high offers in the regions too. Those salaries are tens of thousands of dollars higher than what the state system can offer most teachers.

In New South Wales, a state school classroom teacher's base salary tops out at $113,000, and in Victorian schools it is $112,000.

Some teachers will be able to top up their salaries through bonus and retention mechanisms but, with Australia facing an "unprecedented" teacher shortage, public school principals have told the ABC they still cannot compete on pay and conditions.Regional schools in particular are  losing teachers

John Freyne, the principal at Traralgon Secondary College in Victoria's Gippsland region, said several teachers had come to him asking for more money, having been offered higher salaries to work at local private schools.He said he could not match the offers.

"We're certainly not as free as private sector schools would be … [to] offer higher salaries," he said.Mr Freyne said his school was between four and six teaching positions short at the end of 2022.While shortages at Traralgon have been filled by relief teachers lured via state government-funded bonus payments, other principals are turning to teaching students to fill the gaps.

Fellow regional principal, Wodonga Middle Years College's Maree Cribbes, said she had recently lost a staff member to a private school, making her 13 positions short ahead of the school new year.

"Actually finding qualified teachers is not possible at the moment," she said.

Principals have 'never seen anything like this'Mr Freyne said the fact private schools get significant government funding, on top of their student fees, enabled them to pay higher wages to attract teachers.

"What they receive from the government would be 60-70 per cent of my total budget, so the federal funding provides them with a greater capacity to pay staff," he said. And while the Victorian public schools' enterprise agreement does allow teachers to earn an extra $10,000 as a "retention incentive", Mr Freyne said it was not a realistic solution because paying the bonus to every teacher would make school budgets unworkable.

Mr Freyne said he had "never seen anything like this" in his 34 years in the profession.

In December, the Albanese government announced it would extend the current funding agreement by one year, to allow time for a funding review.

It means the government's in-principle commitment to lifting government funding for public schools will be delayed for another year, which unions say will mean public schools continue to lose teachers to the private sector.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has acknowledged the scale of the problem.

"This is a real issue, principals and teachers have both talked to me about this," he said.

Mr Clare agreed "pay is important", but said fixing entrenched equity problems would take time and money.

AEU Victorian branch President Meredith Peace said these reports are extremely concerning, with this practice exacerbating the already serious staffing challenges faced by the state’s public schools.

“This is causing considerable stress and workload for principals, and puts at riskthe right of every child to have a qualified teacher in their classroom and/or access certain parts of the curriculum," says Ms Peace.

“What we are seeing here highlights the current inequity that exists between public and private schools.

"Victoria’s public schools are only funded to 90 per cent of the federally determined resource standard, whilst the majority of private and Catholic schools are already at or in excess of 100 per cent. This means public schools are not operating on a level playing field and students are missing out on aspects of the education they are entitled to, thus diminishing their educational opportunities.

“It should therefore come as no surprise that private schools are able to use their abundant resources to offer financial incentives and opportunities, that public schools have no capacity to match.

DOGS note that the current situation was predicted by their organisation in 1964. The overwhelming greed of the parasitic religious sector together with the privatisation policies of both the Labor and Coalition governments since the 1980s have led to an emptying of the public Treasury in favour of the wealthy and sectarian at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.

 

The only way forward is to abandon a failed policy and adhere to the policy of No State Aid for private schools and separation of religion from the State.

LISTEN TO THE DOGS PROGRAM

855 ON THE AM DIAL: 12.00 NOON SATURDAYS

http://www.3cr.org.au/dogs