Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has welcomed the introduction of legislation to deliver record education funding in Gippsland.
Mr Chester said every school in the Gippsland electorate would get a funding increase from the Federal Government next year and over the next 10 years.
“Gippsland schools will be funded in a way that is fair and equal into the future,” Mr Chester told Federal Parliament when welcoming the Australian Education Amendment Bill 2017.
Mr Chester said the reforms would deliver record funding for all Gippsland schools.
Mr Chester also addressed recent speculation about funding for Catholic schools.
“I want to stress that no Catholic school in Gippsland will get less,” Mr Chester said.
“I know that many parents in the broader Gippsland region would not consider themselves to be well-off.
“They work hard and often families have two incomes, and they spend whatever they can, when they can earn extra, on school fees to give their children the best start in life.
“They work hard to send their kids to the schools of their choice, and they rely on the Commonwealth to fairly and adequately provide taxpayer funding for their schools.
“It is the right of a parent to choose where to send their child, and that child has a right to receive a high standard, well-funded education.”
Mr Chester told the Parliament the education reforms would target areas that needed it most.
“I think that is essentially why the legislation is fair. These reforms underpin the intention of the original Gonski needs-based changes. In Gippsland, it means that principals and teachers will be able to use the funding provided to their school in a way that best allocates the resources and addresses the needs of their students.
“That greater autonomy means they can choose to invest extra funding, if required, into a speech pathologist or a specialist literacy or special needs teacher, according to the needs of their school community.”