Funding shock: WA schools to lose millions

EDUCATION in WA would be savaged by a $305 million funding cut under a Government shake-up that would hit hundreds of public, Catholic and independent schools, according to shock new modelling.
The Sunday Times today publishes the list of schools to emerge as losers, based on data provided by the Department of Education to schools and state governments.
Secret modelling prepared by the states and non-government schools suggests up to a third of schools could be left worse off.
WA is the only state to lose cash overall, with a $305 million funding cut and 688 schools that could emerge as losers, according to the research.
Nationally, 6000 schools emerge as winners under the funding carve up, but the surprise finding of the modelling is that struggling public and Catholic schools are among the 3254 potential losers, with parents warned they could be left to pick up the tab.

When confronted with the research, Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday insisted that "no school will lose a dollar", while revealing her Government was advised months ago some schools could miss out unless major changes were made.
"While the original modelling . . . had some schools missing out. There was no way we were going to let that happen," Ms Gillard said. "So we've taken action to make sure no school will lose a dollar and in fact every school's funding will continue to rise. Every parent, every principal, every child can rest assured that their school won't lose a dollar. In a few weeks we'll be announcing exactly how we will achieve that."