$4.6 billion private school deal fuels inequality: ScoMo funding backlash

<h2>&&num;8220&semi;The PM’s decision to gift billions of dollars to independent and Catholic schools&comma; is a mighty expensive marketing exercise to effectively make our elitist schools look smart&comma; and those who choose them feel smarter&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says teacher and principal Adam Voigt&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<h3>&&num;8220&semi;Let’s face it&comma; to the government&comma; private system parents are a powerful collective of voters not to be gotten disgruntled&period; But when we pit government schools against private schools in a marketing war based on showing off who has the best stuff &&num;8211&semi; and then deny government schools the chance to buy stuff that’s any good&comma; we entrench inequality in our schools and our country&period;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;When we pay for that war with &dollar;4&period;6 billion and the futures of those for whom paying for private school education isn’t an option&comma; we do something far more morally contemptible&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>&NewLine;Prime Minister Scott Morrison is trying to use more than &dollar;4 billion of taxpayer money to buy his way out of a political mess&comma; while ignoring the needs of 2&period;5 million public school students across Australia&comma; said the Australian Council of Trade Unions in its latest statement&period; <&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The announcement of a funding boost for Catholic and independent schools&comma; with nothing for public schools&comma; violates sector-blind fair funding principles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Morrison announced the &dollar;4&period;6 billion deal for private schools after a damaging campaign from private school owners cost the Coalition votes at the recent Longman and Braddon by-elections&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;There is not a single dollar in the funding announcement for public schools&comma; which had &dollar;1&period;9 billion cut from their 2018-19 budgets by the current Prime Minister when he was Treasurer&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This deal also fails to properly support&comma; recognise or fund the needs of children with disabilities&period;&&num;8221&semi;<strong> <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2><strong>ACTU President Michele O’Neil criticised Morrison&&num;8217&semi;s decision as a power play<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Every child deserves the best education we can provide&comma; no matter where they go to school&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;But Scott Morrison has prioritised his own short-term political gain over the future of Australian children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Working people are sick of seeing politicians cut special deals to buy their way out of political trouble with public money&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This is a cynical and unfair attempt to buy votes at the expense of the education of 2&period;5 million children in the public school sector&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Prime Minister Morrison must reverse the cuts to public schools&comma; establish proper needs-based&comma; sector-blind fair funding of our children’s education&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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