National polling of principals, teachers and support staff shows 85% of public school teachers are spending their own money with the average amount being just over $885 a year. NSW, WA and NT teachers are spending on average, over $1,000 each a year.
Based on the national average, the total spending by teachers is $159.5 million a year.
Why is this happening?
This spending reflects the dedication and commitment of teachers in public schools who do whatever it takes every day to deliver a high-quality education to children across Australia.
Unfortunately, it also reflects the failure of the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to fund public schools to the minimum funding benchmark.
Right now, only 1.3% of public schools are funded to the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), which is the minimum funding that they need.
Teachers reported that the top reasons they are spending their own money is that it is the only way to deliver a lesson (44%) and students would miss out if they didn’t (40%).
It’s unacceptable that we continue to rely on the goodwill of teachers to dig into their own pockets, instead of funding public schools to the minimum standard required.
I agree! How can I help?
With one click you can get involved.
Join teachers, principals, parents, carers and community members and sign up to show your support for full funding.
