The Greens school funding policy is divisive and out of touch with the needs and expectations of an egalitarian society, CSA said today.

Greens Leader Bob Brown has today released details of the approach the party will take during discussion of the Gonski report, which will be released later this month. 

"The Greens policy remains based on false assertions about funding, and a misguided ideology," said CEO Stephen O'Doherty. 

"The effect of their policy would be to limit choice — particularly choice of faith-based schooling — for low income families. 

"Their policy would limit, and then progressively starve, the funds available to support students in non-government schools.

"The Greens would deliberately disadvantage students in non-government schools by refusing to pass on to them funding for educational benefits such as smaller class sizes. 

"This would drive up fees and increasingly limit choice for most Australian families. 

"In addition the Greens want new powers for the Federal Government to refuse funds on the basis of 'enrolment policies'.  We know from previous Greens policy statements that their intention is to use funding to limit religious freedom.  Schools established on the basis of faith would be targeted by the Greens, whose policy has a strongly anti-religious bias that is out of touch with the egalitarian views of most Australians. 

"Apart from the public education union, there will be few Australians who believe in the Greens' vision of a return to the divisive and sectarian debates of the past.

"The current system is based on the belief that all children, regardless of status or belief, deserve some investment by the government in their schooling.  It also allows parents to exercise choice and recent history has shown that parents increasingly want to exercise choice in schooling, particularly when it comes to a faith-based education.

"Funding for non-government school students is already indexed so that schools in wealthy areas get less. If Bob Brown had his way, only the very wealthy would be able to afford non-government schooling. 

"We are grateful for the ongoing commitment of both the Australian Labor Party and the Coalition for choice in schooling, and we are sure this will be reflected in the policy discussions on funding this year," Mr O'Doherty said.

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