How Catholic Congregational Schools are Funded in NSW

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How Catholic Congregational Schools are
Fundedin NSW
Series 1 (C) Draft -24 July, 2001
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In Australia there are . . .

• 1,700 Catholic Schools with
• 650,000 students
• employing 51,000 staff

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Funding comes from

• Commonwealth Government
• State Government, and
• Private sources (parents, fundraising, other)

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Commonwealth Funding of Non-Government Schools
2001-2004

• Catholic Systemic Schools are funded by a of
  the AGSRC (Average Government Schools Recurrent
  Costs). Present funding will be maintained until
  2004
• All other schools funded by SES (Socio Economic
  Status)

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State Funding for Non-Government Schools

• Step One A pool of funds based on 25 to the
  State of educating a student at a Government
  School as required by the Education Act
• Step Two Distribution of pool of funds across
  all schools and systems on a needs basis
• Distribution of funds is under review with the
  Grimshaw Report.
• Change is likely from 2002

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• The NSW Government also provides interest
  subsidies on approved loans for buildings
• Student transport subsidy

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Parent Funding

• school fees
• levies
• fundraising
• interest on investments
• other

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What have Catholic Schools Facilitated?

• Quality Catholic education
• Smooth transition from Religious to Lay
• Career paths for teachers
• Ability to lobby governments

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Why Have Catholic Schools?

• Catholic schools fulfil parents rights in a
  democratic, free society to choose the schooling
  for their children which reflects their own
  values, beliefs and hopes as Australians.
• Catholic Schools continue to respond to and serve
  the needs of parents who seek a Catholic
  education for their children

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Congregational Schools (non-systemic)

• owned and operated by religious congregations
• many established in 19th century
• some enrol boarders
• are an integral part of the Catholic network of
  schools

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Commonwealth Funding

• funding for non-systemic schools based on Socio
  Economic Status (SES)
• new SES funding will impact on all congregational
  schools - there will be winners and losers
• funding will be maintained until 2004
• we will need to ensure that the Parliamentarians
  understand the needs of congregational schools

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Funding Summary Under New States Grants Act (SES)

• Of the 42 Congregational Schools in NSW
• 9 increase their funding under SES
• 33 are funding maintained under SES
• If the 33 schools were not funding maintained
  for 2001-2004
• 17 would have losses up to 500 per capita
• 8 would have losses between 500 - 1000 p.c.
• 8 would have losses greater than 1000 p.c.

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Commonwealth General Recurrent Grants for
Non-Systemic Schools

• SES scores range from 85 to 130 The higher
  the SES rating, the lower the grant per student
• A school on an SES score of 130 would receive
• 693 per primary student
• 908 per secondary student (13.7 of AGSRC)
• A school on an SES score of 106 would receive
• 2,210 per primary student
• 2894 per secondary student (47 of AGSRC)

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Special Grants

• There are additional grants for
• Students with Disabilities
• Improving Student Outcomes (National Drug
  Education, Civics Citizenship, Quality Teacher
  Programs)
• Country areas
• New arrivals
• Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
• English as a Second Language ( ESL)

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How Government Schools are Funded

• State Government receives funds from the
  Commonwealth Governments general revenue and its
  own taxes to pay for these schools
• Commonwealth Government provides additional
  top-up funding for these schools

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How Catholic Schools are Funded

• Commonwealth government provides the bulk of the
  funds and this is complemented by the State
  Government

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Funding Gap Implications

• SECURITY OF FUNDING BEYOND 2004

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Funding for School Buildings

• The NSW State Government has an interest subsidy
  scheme for loans on approved building projects
  (30m - to cover all non-government schools)
• The Commonwealth Government makes available some
  funds for
• new schools
• upgrading existing schools

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• Commonwealth Funds are available through the
  Block Grant Authorities
• a) Catholic BGA
• b) AIS BGA (Association of Independent Schools)
• Systemic Schools apply to Catholic Education
  Commission (CEC)
• In 2000, the CBGA had 21m available. Requests
  totalled 83.4m

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• In Catholic schools, dedicated parents, staff,
  priests and parishioners offer voluntary
  assistance in many roles

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The Transformation of Catholic Schools

• Teachers in NSW Catholic Schools
• 1965 - 2000
• 1965 Religious 3654 69
• Lay 1628
• 1980 Religious 1809 18
• Lay 8397
• 2000 Religious 290 1.8
• Lay 15,789

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The Future at the State Level

• In 2001 non-government schools are receiving
  funding at slightly less than 25 of NSW State
  costs
• New funding basis expected from 2002

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What can we do to ensure funding?

• need to become informed about the sources and
  politics of funding
• know your MP and invite him/her to the school and
  alert them to funding issues for all
  non-government schools
• Parliamentary representatives must be helped to
  understand the needs of Catholic schools
• community and electoral support must be fostered

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People of Hope

• Catholic Schools in Australia have been serving
  the community for 180 years
• for 100 years there was zero government funding
  but a strong pioneering spirit
• we are part of a strong network of schools
• funding is not a constitutional right
• The Journey of Catholic Education continues . . .