Labor’s budget has failed the public schools test, committing even more to private schools than the Morrison Government pledged in its March budget, the Greens say.

The Albanese Government has promised private schools $70.2 billion over the forward estimates, $1.7 billion more than Scott Morrison guaranteed in his pre-election budget. The private school sector will now receive an even greater share of Commonwealth funding under Labor than it would have under the Coalition.

The Greens say an interim report by the Productivity Commission into the National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA) obscures the fact that persistent funding inequity is the main reason why the Agreement is failing to meet its goals.

It’s projected that, until the end of the decade, private schools will be funded over 100% of their Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), while public schools won’t even reach 91%. On average, public school students are missing out on $1800 in funding every year under the NSRA.

The Greens have called on the nation’s education ministers to tackle the root causes of the teacher shortage crisis, after today’s roundtable failed to produce a credible plan for real reform.

Comments attributable to Greens spokesperson on schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“It’s great that teachers had a seat at the table at today’s Education Ministers Meeting. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that the ministers were really paying attention. 

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale and Education Spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi have today doubled down on their defence of public schools, declaring they "will not be silenced" by a well-funded Private Schools lobby group.

"The Morrison Government has sold Australian students down the river to silence a powerful lobby group ahead of the Wentworth byelection, but the Greens will always put kids in public education front and centre," Dr Di Natale said.

Australian Greens Education Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi,has said that need and equity, not desperate electoral strategies, should guide schools funding in Australia and has called on the Federal Government to reverse its Gonski 2.0 education cuts.

Senator Faruqi said:

"Equity and need, not marginal seats, should determine our education policy.

"Funding of our schools should be based on what is needed for our kids to have a world class education, not based on desperate political and electoral strategies. Our schools are not political footballs.