Today’s Age reports on a major cut to school funding made by the Victorian government in 2024, and “buried in last year’s budget papers”.
The article begins:
The state government secretly ripped $2.4 billion from state schools after delaying by three years its commitment to provide the funding required to pay for the long-promised Gonski education reforms.
The decision was taken despite Education Minister Ben Carroll warning Premier Jacinta Allan and then-treasurer Tim Pallas it would damage the state’s reputation, embed Victoria’s status as Australia’s lowest funder of public schools, and prolong disadvantage and inequities across the school system.
This cut also ‘flowed on’ to a reduction in matched funding from the Federal Government.
According to the article, “Victoria’s altered funding trajectory for state schools means that instead of delivering a steady uplift of between $100 million and $200 million a year, funding will stay flat until 2029.”
