Question: Why must the NSW government properly fund the education of students with disabilities?
Answer: Because they can’t afford not to.

Enabling Equity Fact Sheet - PDF 

NSW Parents’ Council believes that students with disabilities in NSW are inadequately funded and inadequately resourced and therefore are further disadvantaged. That disadvantage denies them the opportunity for further education and vocational training which translates into economic disadvantage. Without educational opportunities students with disabilities will become adults with disabilities who have a reduced capacity to secure and maintain employment which ultimately excludes them from participating in the economic, social and cultural life which is the expectation of every Australian citizen.

If we are to be a truly inclusive society that inclusion must start at the very beginning, a very good place to start indeed. It is education is the key that unlocks opportunities for all.
Approximately 31 percent of all students with disabilities and additional learning needs attend non-government schools. Non-government schools genuinely accept students with special needs and offer some excellent programs.
A student with disabilities in a government school has their education costs fully met from the public purse. Based on current estimates this cost often exceeds $25,000. In contrast $9,000 is the maximum public funding a student with disabilities receives in a non-government school. This inequity in funding impacts directly and significantly on the capacity of a non-government school to offer an appropriate lever of resources for students with disabilities.
There are many reasons why parents choose a non-government school for their child with disabilities and/or additional learning needs. Many parents are keen to give their child educational opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled child. Parents who choose to educate their disabled child in the same non government school as their siblings are being discriminated against. In addition to this by sending their child to a non government school the parents of the child are often bearing the cost of this that would otherwise be covered by the NSW Government.
Unfortunately, given the current level of funding of students with disabilities in non-government schools, the financial burden of funding a student-classroom aide is prohibitive and beyond the capacity of many schools and more importantly already stressed parents. To add to the lack of choice for parents of students with disabilities often the specialist services required for their child are not offered by their local government school effectively leaving parents with no choice, and in many cases enormous financial costs.
The NSW Parents Council believes the funding of students with disabilities should follow the child not the school. The decision to fund the student’s educational needs should be independent of whether the child attends a government or non-government school.

December 2008