Some schools don't verify MySchool data

31 independent schools in Queensland did not tick off the financial data that was used for the revamped My School website, Independent Schools Queensland says.

The Federal Government is relaunching the controversial website at 9am (AEST) Friday to include figures on how much money is spent on each student and a revised Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage, which compares like schools.

Independent Schools Queensland said 31 of the state's 185 independent schools didn't validate the website's financial data, such as income and capital expenditure, with the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) because they didn't agree with the methodology used.

Executive director, David Robertson, said the figures therefore could be misleading.

"We were assured the data would not be published unless it had been validated by each individual school," Robertson said in a statement.

"It's disappointing that the federal government is pushing ahead with plans to post unapproved data on the My School site.

"Our position has always been that independent schools are happy to have this data published but it does need to be accurate.

"The unresolved issues would suggest that it's showing inflated figures for independent schools."

Robertson said figures can be a bit skew, especially considering that state schools record capital expenditure on Building the Education Revolution (BER) projects when they've been completed, while non-state schools record BER capital expenditure on an actual basis.

Meanwhile, the Queensland Catholic Education Commission supports the publication of financial data and said the revamped website will show that Catholic schools on average receive only about 60 per cent of the government funding provided to government schools.

"Even when parent contributions are included, Queensland Catholic schools operate, on average, at only about 80 per cent of the resourcing levels of state schools," executive director, Mike Byrne, said in a statement.

He said a range of factors affected the level of income each school receives and urged parents not to make direct comparisons between schools.

"Some reasons for variation include the size of a school, the programs it offers, its rural or remote location, number of students with special needs, and its capacity to generate private income," he said.

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