PM denies bias in schools' funding

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has denied the government is favouring private over public
schools.
Data released this week shows private schools will get $12 billion more in federal
funding than public schools, over the five years to 2013.
That's despite most students - two-thirds of the total - attending public schools.
Mr Rudd fended off accusations he was giving private schools an expensive leg-up.
"We make no ideological distinction between government schools and non-government
schools," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"A whole bunch of kids out there enrolled at Catholic schools, at Christian schools,
independent schools. That's terrific."
"Everyone's got choice. We're in the business of supporting both."
Mr Rudd said all schools were getting more money under his government, while some
commonwealth funding was based on enrolment.
Education Minister Julia Gillard said Labor had stuck with the system for funding
private schools of the former Howard government, to give certainty to schools.
Ms Gillard promised to review the funding system in the lead-up to 2013, when the
next four-year funding deal was due to start.
"I believe we've got to support the education of every child in every school," she
told reporters.
"We've honoured our promise to keep the funding system that the Howard government
had created for the distribution to non-government schools.
"We did that to give schools certainty but we've done so much more in addition to that.
"We've invested in all schools. We've also invested particularly in the most
disadvantaged schools, with a $1.5 billion partnership focused on the most
disadvantaged schools in the country."
The data on schools funding was contained in a report issued this week by Dr Jim
McMorrow, honorary associate professor of education at the University of Sydney.
The report found private schools would net $47 billion from the federal government
in the five years to 2013, while public schools would receive $35 billion.
The gap was mainly caused by the "enduring effects of the unfair and dysfunctional
general recurrent grants program the Rudd government inherited from its
predecessor", Dr McMorrow said.
The report said education funding was "haunted" by the Howard years.
Dr McMorrow said the public share of the pie was due to increase from 32 per cent to
36 per cent of funding by 2013.
The Australian Education Union (AEU) said the funding imbalance should be redressed.
"The ... funding system delivers levels of funding to private schools that cannot be
justified," AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos said in a statement.