With the independent David Gonski review into government funding expected to be released on Monday, Mr Polglase said the community should be optimistic of the outcomes.

Mr Polglase had an unenviable first day on the job on February 1 - the day after the release of the School Viability Reference Group report.

He was elected to the four-year term in December, taking over from Leanne Wright.

``Those in the community who believe that the primary educational responsibility of governments is to support public education can be optimistic that the recommendations from the Gonski review will see equity returned to school funding and that `equal opportunity for all' will return, even if it won't be until 2014 at the earliest,'' Mr Polglase said.

He said the ``calamitous'' Prime Minister John Howard period supported the privatisation of schooling and stripped public schools by stealth of their less needy students.

He said that in the past seven years government funding of independent schools had increased by 82 per cent, and Catholic by 64 per cent, but government by just 48 per cent.

Government schools could also take between 80 and 90 per cent of the state's most disadvantaged students, he said.

Mr Polglase said the School Viability Reference Group's report covering criteria should apply to non-government schools when they received on average 70 per cent of their funding from the government to remain viable.

He hoped to see a rallying within the community to have every public school set the benchmark for high-quality education.