Catholic parents’ message to Canberra

The Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling will be released on Monday 20 February 2012. The Australian Government is expected to provide its initial response at the same time.
Galen, along with other Catholic schools around the country, have pushed a number of core principles for funding, including:

• Additional funding for Catholic schools to close the gap between Catholic schools and government schools

• Government funding that keeps pace with the cost of educating a child in a government school

• Fair funding for students with a disability and special needs so that all students, regardless of the school they attend, receive funding to meet their needs.

For every dollar in funding that a student in a government school receives, Catholic students receive on average just 80 cents. Any cut or freeze in funding for Catholic schools could mean higher school fees, Catholic students transferring to government schools and added pressure on state government education budgets.
Over the next few weeks, our school will receive materials to support fair funding for Catholic schools. The strength of these efforts will be based on your commitment to ensuring fair funding for your child.