Independent schools urge election candidates to put prejudice aside

ISV Chief Executive Rachel Holthouse said all students, regardless of school sector, deserve support and fair funding.

‘For over half a century the major political parties have supported the right of parents to choose a school – government, Independent or Catholic – that best meets the needs of their children,’ Ms Holthouse said.

‘Despite this bipartisan agreement, and despite the fact they are the fastest growing school sector, Independent school communities are still subjected to prejudice and ill-informed attacks by ideological critics whose voices might be heard in the election campaign,’ she said.

‘When we attack a school sector, we attack children and families who have made a choice that best suits their needs,’ she said.

Ms Holthouse said parents with children in Victorian Independent schools had learned the hard way how ill-considered political decisions based on myths and prejudice could harm the education of their children, when the Victorian Government imposed a punitive payroll tax on them.

‘We don’t presume to tell parents how to vote,’ she said. ‘But we do stand up for their right to choose a school that best matches the needs of their children.’

ISV is supporting the national School Choice Counts campaign, conducted by Independent Schools Australia.

ISV represents 230 widely diverse Independent schools that educate more than 172,00 students from all sections of the community, Close to half of these schools are low fee, defined by the Victorian Government as one that charges $8,125 a year or less.