Education union 'blindsided' by ACT public school budget shake-up

Public schools in the ACT have received their budgets for next year, with a change in the way their funding is calculated, seeing a number of schools facing a reduction.The budget shake-up is being made in response to a review of public school resourcing, which found there needed to be more of a focus on equity and student need.ACT Education Director-General Jo Wood said the independent Public School System Resourcing Review found a significant portion of financial pressures were in primary schools, but the way funding was calculated gave more weight to older students.Jo Wood says the directorate is commissioning a holistic review of the public school funding formula. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)"That independent review found one of the pressures on the system and one of the equity issues was the higher weighting that's given to the per-student funding depending on the stage of schooling," Ms Wood said."So for example, primary schools get a lower per-student amount than, say, a college."The review said we needed to look at that whole funding formula, and we are commissioning a holistic review of that funding formula, but as a first step for 2027 we've made a small adjustment to the weighting for colleges … so that we can get a better distribution of funding across the system."Eighteen schools will see their funding drop by more than 5 per cent, 31 will see an increase of more than 5 per cent, and 43 schools will receive about the same amount as they did in 2026.'A significant financial adjustment and a very short turnaround'Among those worse off are the ACT's nine colleges — which are facing a combined $4 million budget reduction, according to the Australian Education Union (AEU).AEU ACT branch president Angela Burroughs said some schools had been "blindsided" by the changes.Angela Burroughs says the scale of the changes to funding for colleges may force them to cut whole programs. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)"The scale of it, and the way that it's being implemented, is very unexpected," Ms Burroughs said."It could be whole programs that have to go. It could be a performing arts program that's no longer viable, or a language education program that's no longer viable."It's a significant financial adjustment that college principals need to make, and a very short turnaround time to get ready for 2027."Executive officer of ACT Parents, Veronica Elliott, said the organisation was "surprised" to learn the 2027 funding changes included a reduction in the funding weighting for colleges."The ACT college system is highly valued by families because of the breadth and diversity of courses and pathways available to students," Ms Elliott said."We support the objective of greater equity across public education, but changes to college resourcing could affect staffing and the courses colleges are able to offer next year."That's particularly important because students have already enrolled and submitted their preferences for 2027."Veronica Elliott says changes to college resourcing could affect the courses that are able to be offered. (ABC News: Mark Moore)AEU ACT branch vice-president Simon Vaughan, who is also the principal of an ACT public college, said he did not know what classroom choices his school would be able to offer new year 11 students next year."There is a quantum of savings I will have to find," Dr Vaughan said."Extracurricular things would probably be areas we need to target."And if we have to, for example, cut staff, that may cut programs."Ms Wood said the ACT Education Directorate would be offering extra support for schools whose funding was being reduced.The ACT Education Directorate says it will offer extra support to schools whose funding is being reduced. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson)"We do have some funding in a central pool that, as we do the work with schools about how they can make those reductions, where there are circumstances that they can't reduce by as much as that, we have the capacity to provide some supplementation," she said."And the main thing we want is that people, our principals and school leaders, feel that it's OK to ask for support."We're not asking any principal to do this work alone. We are available and have a range of different expertise to provide support."Schools will need to finalise their arrangements for 2027 in the coming weeks.