The Greens are the only party committed to funding West Australian public schools with the announcement today to fully fund all public schools in WA to the 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard.
For decades, the major parties have underfunded our public schools, while giving special deals to elite non-government schools and leaving public schools to scrape by.
New data has just been released that shows that the cost to send a child to school in Perth has skyrocketed – with parents paying more for fees, supplies and extracurriculars over the next decade.
The Greens plan to invest in West Australian public schools:
- Fully fund every public school by July 2025
- Establish a new grants fund for public schools to invest in infrastructure, reversing the 2017 Coalition decision that saw the Commonwealth abandon investment in our public schools. This would deliver $186 million in its first two years for WA classroom upgrades, sport facilities, and other essential infrastructure to give every WA kid a world class education.
Every child deserves to have a high-quality, inclusive, safe and free public education. We know that under successive Labor and Liberal governments our West Australian public schools have been massively underfunded while they have given more of the pie to the private sector.
Our local schools are the beating heart of our community – but we know that so many of our inner city public schools are underfunded, they’re bursting at the seams, and there needs to be significant government investment in school infrastructure.
Our public schools in the Federal Electorate of Perth are estimated to be underfunded by around $28 million each year.
Mt Lawley Senior High School alone is estimated to be missing out on over $3million each year due to underfunding by the major parties.
Our Greens plan would invest millions in our local public schools, delivering full funding from July 2025. This would see the Greens commit an estimated $5662 additional funding per student on average at all public schools in the Federal Seat of Perth.
Plus, we’ll establish a capital works fund so our kids have the classrooms and facilities they deserve.
This Federal election the Greens can secure the balance of power and get the things that everyone in our community deserves; inclusive public education, dental and mental health into Medicare, and affordable housing.
Sophie Greer, Greens Candidate for Perth