NEW RESEARCH SHOWS URGENT NEED FOR FULL FUNDING OF VICTORIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

New research shows the urgent need for the full funding of Victorian public schools with teacher shortages and alarming declines on student and teacher wellbeing having a widespread impact.

The AEU’s 2024 State of our Schools survey results are being released in Melbourne today at an activation highlighting the 1560 public schools in Victoria which are currently underfunded.

1560 miniature schools will cover the lawns and forecourt of Melbourne’s State Library to represent the unacceptable reality that Victorian public schools are underfunded by $1.8 billion this year.

In the survey of 1,371 Victorian public school principals, teachers and support staff, conducted in March and April:

• 83% of principals reported teacher shortages at their school in the last year and 93% said it had become harder to fill vacant positions.
• Over 80% of teachers said that they had taught merged classes at some point in the last year due to the shortages and more than a third said they were doing so regularly or constantly.
• 12% of principals described their school as well-resourced but only 3% of teachers did.
• Over half the teachers reported a decline or significant decline in student wellbeing and engagement in the past 18 months. Over 85% of teachers reported a decline or significant decline in teacher wellbeing and morale over the same period.
• Less than one quarter of teachers said the amount of counsellor support at their school was adequate and 21% said there was none.
• Workloads remain excessive, with 70% of teachers working more than 40 hours a week.
• Only 22% are committed to staying in the profession until retirement, raising the prospect the current recruitment and retention crisis could worsen without real government action.

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said all Victorian public schools are funded below the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), which is the minimum level governments agreed a decade ago was required to meet the needs of students.

“The challenges in schools have never been greater - more diversity and complexity in student need, increasing wellbeing and mental health issues and acute shortages of teachers due to unsustainable workloads,” Ms Haythorpe said.

“Our principals, teachers and support staff are doing an extraordinary job, but they are being asked to do too much with too little and there just aren’t enough of them.

“Fully funding public schools is the only way to ensure every child gets the support they need to succeed, and we can recruit and retain sufficient numbers of teachers. There needs to be additional teachers and counsellors in Victorian schools, along with more support staff and specialist staff, such as speech therapists.”

The AEU research comes after an inquiry, ordered by Education Ministers, warned in December that the underfunding of public schools is “undermining other reform efforts with real implications for student educational and wellbeing outcomes, teacher attraction and retention”. The Expert Panel that conducted the inquiry said the need for full funding was “urgent and critical” and it was a prerequisite for student learning and wellbeing improvement.

In the AEU survey, Victorian principals said the biggest beneficiaries if public schools were fully funded would be students who have fallen behind in literacy or numeracy and students with disabilities or learning difficulties.

Teachers need additional support for students with disability or behavioural issues, and more time within their paid hours for lesson planning, assessment and reporting were critical to assist them to improve student outcomes.

AEU Victorian Branch President Meredith Peace said a new agreement between the Victorian Government and the Federal Government that delivers full funding must be signed this year.

“This is the best investment we can make for our future,” she said.

“Victorian public schools receive a smaller proportion of SRS funding than public schools in any other state while private schools continue to be funded above 100% of the SRS.

“Principals, teachers, parents, unions, community members and the Victorian Government all believe the Albanese Government should lift its SRS share from the current 20% to 25% by 2028.

This is critical if Victoria is to address critical problems with attraction and retention of staff, and to ensure schools can provide the educational programs and supports students need.”

“The Allan Government also needs to step up and fund a genuine 75% of the SRS. That includes getting rid of the accounting loophole that inflates the Victorian SRS share by 4% via the inclusion of non-school spending.”

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Meriel Killeen, 0466 393 485

Melissa van der Haak, 0484 674 958