A war of words has broken out between the Labor Party and the Greens over a proposed new funding model for non-government schools across the state.
The Labor Party went on the attack after the Greens voted down the Education Training and Reform Amendment (Funding for Non-Government Schools) Bill in State Parliament earlier this month.
Education Minister James Merlino said the legislation would have provided funding certainty for disadvantaged children attending independent and Catholic schools in Victoria.
He said the funding would help schools such as Sacred Heart Primary School at St Albans, where 87 per cent of the student population has a non-English-speaking background, with a high proportion of students having refugee parents.
“This is a disgraceful display by the Greens party and a slap in the face to every parent, teacher and student at a non-government school,” Mr Merlino said.
“The Greens are more concerned about attacking the Labor government than tackling educational disadvantage.”
But Greens MP Colleen Hartland said the party voted down the bill because it would give all non-government schools a prescribed piece of the funding pie, including prestigious private schools.
“Victoria is the lowest-spending state of public education in Australia. We think the government should prioritise funding to government schools,” Ms Hartland said.
“We need to have a funding formula that’s transparent, based on equity and need.
“We’ve got a lot of independent schools in the western suburbs that are small, that probably need assistance, but we’re also talking about very, very big schools in the eastern suburbs, which really don’t need state funding.
“We need to have additional loadings for disadvantaged schools and students.”
