There will be no cuts in the classroom, the government says. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The teachers’ union has called for an urgent independent review of ACT school funding as the Education Directorate scrambles to find millions of dollars in savings to cover budget overruns at most of the Territory’s government schools.
It has been revealed that 77 of the ACT’s 92 public schools are already over budget or are expected to overspend this year.
The revelation has the ACT Government again facing questions about its budget management. The government had to top up the health budget in January and last month it announced a record $1.1 billion budget deficit.
Principals were called to a meeting on Monday (21 July) to discuss the budget overruns, and the Australian Education Union’s ACT branch received a briefing from the directorate the next day.
Education Minister Yvette Berry has promised that there would be no cuts in schools or classes without teachers, although the union says $43 million will have to be saved.
Union president Angela Burroughs told Region that the directorate fell short of blaming principals but was still approaching the situation as an individual budget management problem, even though it was clear that the system was broken.
“You can’t have 84 per cent of schools in this situation and say it’s an individual budget problem,” she said.
“It’s not a problem with school leaders being able to manage budgets. The problem is that school leaders are not being given adequate resources to operate the schools.”
The union was calling on Ms Berry to conduct an independent review into school funding before the next school year to assess how much money schools receive, what they are expected to achieve with it, and whether that money is sufficient to achieve what is expected.
Ms Burroughs said the union also wanted a review to examine whether costs, such as school facilities, should be managed directly by the directorate.
Ms Berry told Region she would consider this but noted that an independent review would cost thousands of dollars.
She said the directorate was already moving to centralise aspects of school management and that since COVID the education landscape had changed markedly and principals faced increasing needs in their schools.
When individual schools overspend, the directorate usually covers the outstanding amount, but this practice had now grown to such an extent that it threatened the entire education budget.
“So we’re needing to take stock of that so that we don’t end up with a blowout in our budget,” Ms Berry said.
She said schools would not go broke or need to slash their spending, with the directorate savings going towards the extra school costs this year.
This would be achieved through measures such as cutting unnecessary interstate flights, not employing consultants and doing that work internally, and reprioritising work within the directorate.
Education Minister Yvette Berry says it’s time to take stock. Photo: ACT Government.
Ms Berry said the directorate would work with principals on their budgets, but they would not be performance managed.
“The Education Directorate wants to work with school principals over the second half of this year to understand the school budget system, what’s working, what’s not, where schools might need some additional support with those budget arrangements, and to make sure that our schools are all funded based on the needs of every single child, in the most equitable way possible,” she said.
Ms Burroughs said the union believed the problem budgets would be individually case-managed and schools would be asked to review their discretionary spending.
“Well, that’s not going to achieve much because there is very little discretionary spending available because most of your budget is consumed in staffing,” she said.
She welcomed promises that recruitment wouldn’t be frozen or staffing affected, but was unsure where the savings would come from.
The minister had guaranteed that there would be a teacher in front of every class, but that was not even the case now.
Given the ACT’s overall budget position, the problems with Health and now Education, Ms Burroughs questioned whether the public service was giving the government the right numbers.
“Should the ministers have confidence in the budget projections that they’re getting from the directorate heads?” she asked.
“We’ve got the two biggest directorates that have budget shortages.”
Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley said the school budget situation reflected systemic issues across government.
“We do not for one minute accept that 77 of the 92 schools in the ACT are each recklessly overspending,” she said. “The fact is this government is providing too little for our schools and asking too much of them.
“We are now seeing this across ACT services, including in core services such as health, and now education.”
Ms Castley said these directorates should be the first priority, not the last.
“It is unacceptable that such a basic core service in the ACT does not have the resources needed, and it is unacceptable to ask schools – or hospitals – to find savings to cover underfunding from the government,” she said.
ACT Parents Chief Executive Veronica Elliott said the government needed to get to the bottom of the overspend, but the needs of students were paramount.
Ms Elliott said principals needed the right tools, training and support to manage school budgets effectively, and families needed confidence that schools would continue to meet student needs – especially for students with disability or additional learning requirements.
“Budget pressures must not lead to a reduction in reasonable adjustments or vital supports,” she said.
“We must ensure our public schools are supported to meet student needs sustainably, equitably, and with confidence.”
