My School identifies the poorly attended and, hence, high cost per student schools that, arguably, are being over-subsidised by taxpayers, such as the Irvinebank State School on the Tablelands in Far North Queensland, which received over $70,000 for each of its five students in 2009. At this rate of funding per student, it’s worth considering whether it may be worthwhile paying Irvinebank families to relocate to Cairns so their children can attend a cheaper school there. Also, subsidising boarding school attendance may be an option.

The Cairns Post reports:

PRIVATE schools in Far North Queensland are calling for an increase in government funding after revelations they have less spending capacity per student than their public counterparts.

First-time access to financial data on the new My School website has dispelled perceptions that the independent and Catholic school sectors were financially better off than state schools.

According to data on the relaunched site yesterday, students at independent schools in the Far North receive thousands of dollars less funding each year than those in the state system.

The site, based on 2009 data, reveals Irvinebank State School on the Tableland receives $72,399 annually for each student, while pupils at St Therese’s Catholic School at Edmonton receive $6929 for each student.

Obviously it’s silly to compare the Catholic School at Edmonton with Irvinebank, given that with only 5-6 students Irvinebank’s a special case. But My School does reveal that Catholic schools, on average, make do on $1,100 less per student than State Schools, which may have slightly higher costs due to a number of students with special needs (see this Australian article for details).

So My School will spark a much-needed debate at barbeques and dinner parties around Australia on how we fund our schools. Hopefully this will result in better policy in the long term.