In the lead article Çatholic Schools Not Overpaid by Government' in The Catholic Weekly, 17 February 2008, pages 1 and 2, Dr. Brian Croke, Executive Director of the Catholic Education Commission in New South Wales, provided the reason why his Church has our politicians in thrall. Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard are just the latest.

 Dr. Croke said that 'the Commonwealth funding is important for Catholic schools "because ít is our life blood''.' It is the main source of funding for Catholic schools and the Catholic system is dependent on Australian Government funding. '

DOGS note that political patronage and public money following that support is now the very life blood of the Roman Catholic school system.

Dr. Croke made some further very enlightening admissions. Consider the following:

'What we don't agree with is that the taxpayers are paying $2 billion more than if the formula was strictly observed, because it is naive to think that you can.'

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'Looking ahead to the next quadrennium, 2009-2012, the NCEC ( National Catholic Education Commission) suggests certain enhancements are required to the SES as a mechanism for determining appropriate levels of Commonwealth funding for Australian schools. In particular, the funding model needs to take account of the disproportionate cost of new and developing schools ( presumably in the Report but not seen) of educating students in schools in remote areas; and of educating refugees and recently arrived students. In addition, certain technical recalibrations are required to ensure that 'SES bracket creep 'does not artifically erode grant levels. While particular consideration needs to be given to the smaller Catholic systems in the ACT and Northern Territory. '

So, for the National Catholic Education Commission, DOGS note that $2 Billion overpayment and more and more in direct aid and indirect tax exemptions etc. is still not enough. It will never be enough. State Aid started as a trickle and has become a raging flood, diverting public funds and swamping the public  system before it.  DOGS are sad that back in the 1960s they predicted that this would happen.

Who does Dr. Croke think is naive? The politicians? Taxpayers? Public School parents?

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but DOGS suggest they have never been in that basket.

Federal State Aid   to the States commenced in 1964/65 with science blocks total $2.667 million. Now it is over             $ 5. 3  billion, in 2006/2007 ( direct Commonwealth grants alone ) and increasing every year. In forty two years State Aid to church schools has multiplied by nearly 2000 times.

In this context DOGS suggest that readers consider some of the cartoons on our website, particularly those from the 1970s and 1980s in which we reflected on the clerical grab (See Cartoons on Home Page ). The monkey grinder has become the master of the politicians.

Rudd has set up a "razor gang'. The first place he should look is the billions of dollars of overpayments in State Aid to índependent' schools who depend upon taxpayers  for their very life blood. The burdened taxpayers should not be forced to  'just contemplate' changes after 2010-2012.

Has anyone noticed where the Honourable Julia Gillard's four political assistants:

• The Hon. Brendan  O'Connor, M.P. Minister for Employment Participation

• The Hon. Kate Ellis, M.P. Minister for Youth

• The Hon. Maxine McKew, M.P. parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care

• Senator, the Hon. Ursula Stephens, Parliament Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector and Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Prime Minister for Social Inclusion.

 obtained their  secondary education?

At least three of the above, OÇonnor, McKew and Stephens are products of the Roman Catholic school system. Kate Ellis has not declared her background in Who's Who. Does she complete a church school quadrella?

Have public education graduates and supporters been largely frozen out of the Australian Federal Parliament?

Is this another illustration of the cancer in the body politic?

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