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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Matthew Kelly

Teachers and parents hold crisis meetings about 'chronic underfunding' of public schools

Crisis meetings will be held between teachers and parents at schools across the Hunter this week to highlight concerns about federal funding for public schools. Picture by Simone DePeak.

Teachers and parents will hold crisis meetings at dozens of Hunter schools this week to highlight concerns about federal funding for the public school system.

The NSW Teachers Federal estimates the state's public schools face a $1.9 billion funding shortfall.

Recent NSW Department of Education analysis shows that while the federal government will provide $24.2 billion to 970 non-government schools over the next four years, only $14.3 billion is allocated to 2,200 public schools.

"This chronic underfunding is having a corrosive impact on our entire public education system," Francis Greenway High School Federation Representative James Dawson said.

"The Albanese Government's failure to fully fund public schools denies us critical opportunities to meet the needs of all students. Proper funding would deliver smaller class sizes, a broader curriculum offering, more one-to-one time for students with complex needs and more time for teachers to plan and collaborate with each other."

Thornton P&C Representative Hollie Tilse said parents would not accept the federal government's inadequate funding offer while children's education hangs in the balance.

"These meetings are about uniting our community to demand the resources our schools desperately need," she said.

Community meetings will be held throughout the Hunter and across the state.

Each 30-minute meeting will include a video presentation from Federation and P&C association presidents, first-hand accounts of local funding impacts from teachers and principals and immediate action steps for community members.

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