Monday 6 November

Tuesday 7 November

Wednesday 8 November

Thursday 9 November

Friday 10 November

Saturday – Sunday, 11 – 12 November

 

Monday 6 November

• The Hobart Mercury
  
  
  • Maths-science logjam
    by Kathy Grube
    
    "Half the maths-science teachers graduating this year have not been offered jobs, despite a widely held belief all would be offered employment in government schools.
    
    "Education Minister David Bartlett announced in August a range of initiatives to attract more maths and science teachers to public schools, including advanced salary levels up to $60,394 to graduates who are offered permanent employment and five scholarships to pay the HECS fees of university science graduates doing a teaching degree.

    "Seven maths-science graduate teachers have been offered permanent positions for next year with a salary of $54,658.

    "Another seven were told in a letter last week that they were unsuccessful in getting permanent jobs, but were encouraged to apply for contract or casual positions when they were advertised.

    "One of those maths-science teacher graduates to miss out, who did not want to be named, said it was commonly believed by both students and university education lecturers that all science graduates would be offered jobs.
    
    "David Bartlett received a lot of positive media attention for announcing he was wanting to attract more science teachers, but there are many graduates who will now have to look for jobs in private schools, interstate or overseas," he said..."
    
    "The student said a delegation from the Education Department's human resources section visited the university in September to talk with all education graduates.

    "He said during their visit they took the science graduates aside to tell them they would all be offered jobs..."
    
    Full story in The Hobart Mercury at link
    
    
    

• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • Teachers in defamation risk
    by Bruce McDougall, Education Reporter
    
    "Teachers are being warned to watch what they write and say about students because of the risk of being sued for defamation..."

    "At least one former Year 12 student complained he had been defamed in the school magazine and threatened to sue everyone involved.

    "Parents as well as students have threatened legal action over comments made by teachers or pupils at school.

    "Education Department lawyer Wayne Freakley has issued a warning to 50,000 public school teachers across NSW to be "on the lookout" for potentially defamatory material.

    "Mr Freakley urged teachers to "always be circumspect in relation to comments – written or oral – you make about staff, students and parents".

    "The advice comes as anger has exploded in schools over new student reports which grade students on a scale of A to E for academic performance.

    "Already some parents have expressed disappointment to their school over their child receiving E grades – a scenario many teachers believe labels the student as a failure.

    "While student reports carry a qualified privilege giving teachers some protection for the comments they make, serious complaints can be made by angry parents. [emphasis added]

    "Sources have told The Daily Telegraph teachers need to think carefully before using words such as "lazy", "grumpy" or "moody" when describing a child's behaviour..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • Pre-budget spending spree to woo voters
    by Steve Lewis, Chief political correspondent
    
    "Billions of dollars in commonwealth spending will be fast-tracked for announcement before the budget as the Howard Government moves to shore up voter support ahead of next year's election.

    "The strategy will allow John Howard to kick off the election year by unveiling dozens of initiatives covering science, health, natural resource management and education - rather than waiting until budget night..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Times
  
  
  • Uniform way to end class divisions
    by Richard Ford
    
    State schools are urged to learn from the private sector how to help pupils from poor families
    
    "The cadet corps and the “house” system may be considered vestiges of Tom Brown’s schooldays, but prefects, sporting societies and communal discipline could soon be making a far more prominent return.

    "State schools are encouraged today to adopt the traditions of the public schools to prevent the gap between rich and poor growing ever wider.

    "An influential left-wing think-tank has taken the rare step of advocating a return to some of the structures associated with public schools — including the house system and forcing young people to take part in structured and uniformed activities — to help the working class to gain personal skills for the 21st century..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    

    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Ministers look to boarding schools to keep pupils out of care
    by Alexandra Smith
    
    "Boarding schools could be an effective way to support children from broken homes, the children's minister Beverley Hughes said today as she announced a new project aimed at keeping young people out of care..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    
    
  • Health drive puts pupils off school meals
    by Mark Oliver
    
    "The drive to make school dinners healthier has been followed by a widespread dip in the numbers of pupils taking them, a survey indicated today..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    Similar story in The Independent
    
    
    
    
• The Independent
  
  
  • Giant secondary schools make pupils feel like 'cogs in machine'
    by Richard Garner, Education Editor
    
    "Secondary schools are getting bigger and bigger, fuelling concerns that they are becoming too impersonal to get the best out of their pupils.

    "Figures show a dramatic growth in the size of secondary schools during the past decade. Since 1995, the number of secondary schools with fewer than 1,000 pupils has dropped by nearly 600, to 1,562, while the number taking in more than 1,500 has risen by 124 per cent, from 115 to 258.

    "The move has prompted Human Scale Education (HSE), a pressure group which promotes more personal education, to urge ministers to set up an investigation into whether large schools are effective in delivering improved standards..."
    
    Full story in The Independent at link

    
    
    
• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Lunch-box crackdown
    by Milanda Rout, education reporter
    
    "A Victorian primary school is cracking down on all packaged and processed foods in children's lunches.
    
    "Teachers at St Thomas' Primary School in Sale are inspecting lunch boxes to discourage unhealthy eating.

    "They have asked parents of grade 3-4 students not to provide any packaged foods for lunch..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

Tuesday 7 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Most TEE pupils now from private schools (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The growing drift away from the State school system was starkly illustrated yesterday when the TEE got under way — with private school students outnumbering public school students for the first time.

    "Curriculum Council figures show 6161 private school students will sit at least one TEE subject, 173 more than the 5988 State students — even though about 70 per cent of all WA pupils attend State schools.

    "The figures also reveal that after years of steady growth, the number of State students sitting the TEE has slumped alarmingly in the past three years, while private schools have enjoyed continued rises until a slight fall this year — attributed to the lure of resource sector jobs.

    "The number of TEE students in State schools hit 7654 in 2003, then fell to 7282 in 2004 and to 6725 last year before hitting the new low.

    "Private school numbers have gone from 5932 in 2003 to 6261 last year before dipping this year.

    "Education sources say the figures lend weight to claims that weaker students are being weeded out at State schools to boost their performance in TEE league tables.

    "But State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said the link was simply a coincidence. He said the current skills shortage was encouraging students to bypass university and apply for trade training.

    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the extent of the decline of State students sitting the TEE was cause for concern.

    “This disparity between the numbers in the two sectors inevitably leads to the claim that a two-tiered system of education is developing in WA,” he said.

    "Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood said he had no data to explain the decline.

    “It mirrors the changing enrolment patterns between government and non-government schools across Australia,” he said. “The buoyant economy may mean that more parents can afford to send their children to non-government schools.”

    "Education Department curriculum standards executive director Chris Cook said: “Public school students are now increasingly choosing career paths from the wide range of education options available to them such as vocational education and training in schools, TAFE and school-based traineeships.”

    "Association of Independent Schools executive director Audrey Jackson said she often had to field claims that private schools counselled weaker students not to sit the TEE for a higher success rate. “These figures seem to show that’s not the case,” she said."

    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Crisis looms as students abandon teaching (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The State's teacher shortage is heading towards a crisis with new figures showing a big drop in the number of students choosing to study education at university next year.
    
    "Preliminary figures from the Tertiary Institution Services Centre show applications to study teaching in 2007 have plummeted at three of WA's four public universities as students turn instead to courses leading to jobs in the booming mining and resources sector.
    
    "The figures follow revelations that the Education Department has turned to recruiting teachers at overseas expos and that State schools are battling to find enough relief teachers to cover classes.
    
    "Demand for primary school teaching courses at Australia's second biggest teacher training institution, Edith Cowan University, has slumped 20 per cent on last year while applications for secondary teaching courses dropped 8 per cent..."
    
    "Demand for education courses also dropped sharply at Curtin University, with primary teaching down more than 20 per cent and secondary down 10 per cent..."
    
    "Demand dropped 24 per cent on last year's figures for primary education at Murdoch University – partly offset by a 37 per cent jump in demand for secondary education..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Alston cartoon
  
  
  
  © The West Australian

 

• The New York Times
  

• City Reaches Early Tentative Deal With Teachers’ Union
  by David M Herszenhorn
  
  "The Bloomberg administration and the New York City teachers’ union reached a tentative deal last night on a contract that would increase pay by 7.1 percent over two years and essentially forge a peace agreement between Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the union from now through the end of his term in 2009.

  "The surprisingly early agreement will, for the first time, lift base pay for the most senior teachers above $100,000 a year [A$ 135,000 a year], an important and symbolic threshold that brings salaries for city educators closer to those in the suburbs. [emphasis added]
  
  Full story in The New York TImes at link
  
  
  
  

• The Times
  
  
  • 'Give 12-year-olds more of a role in choosing teachers'
    by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
    
    "Children as young as 12 should help to appoint teachers and take a much bigger role in running their schools, the Schools Minister has declared.

    "In a ringing endorsement of pupil power, Lord Adonis said that headteachers should consider following the example of Finland, where children were full members of governing bodies.

    "The former Downing Street adviser said that he wanted to see a cultural change to allow children to interview candidates for teaching posts..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    

  • British talent deserting universities
    by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
    
    "A dearth of native postgraduates means that colleges are having to fill posts with foreign academics
    
    "Universities will be dominated by foreign academics soon unless more British graduates are persuaded to stay in higher education, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge has told The Times..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • ACT school census shows enrolments fall
  
  
  
  
• The Australian
  
  
  • Bishop's guide to declining manners
    by Samantha Maiden, Political correspondent
    
    "Road ragers, the ugly-parent syndrome and swearing have been cited by federal Education Minister Julie Bishop as more evidence of the decline in civility and good manners.

    "Calling for a zero-tolerance policy on manners, Ms Bishop said schools that reinforced respect for others and good etiquette could help prevent more serious problems for students later in life..."
    
    "I contend there has been a decline in civility in Australia," Ms Bishop said.

    "The modern phenomenon of road rage, ugly-parent syndrome, the prevalence of offensive language in a variety of settings, young people not giving up their seat on public transport for the elderly, boorish conduct, schools having to take out apprehended violence orders against students and parents, and the intrusive use oftechnology can all point towards a less-than-desirable level of civility." ...
    
    "Our schools have a duty, or should have a duty, to champion a sense of civility, good manners, tolerance and respect in their students." ...
    
    "Ms Bishop said students could also show respect by wearing a school uniform and singing the national anthem."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    Similar story in The Melbourne Age
    
    
    

• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • Editorial
    Grades get A for communication
    by Bruce McDougall, Education Reporter
    
    "On-the-nose Muslim cleric Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly may have offered to cover his mouth with masking tape last week, but the state's teachers self-censor in much more subtle ways.

    "When it comes to reporting on children's progress in class, facts only, "positive" comments and few value judgments are now made.

    "In the 1960s the report card brought home by a female Year 3 student at a Northern Beaches primary school included remarks such as "try harder", "can do better" and "disappointing".

    "In today's politically correct world such bald comments by a teacher are most unlikely to find their way into any student's report.

    "The lines at the bottom of the Year 3 girl's 1962 report – "Julie is a good girl, working well" – today would be lampooned by parent groups as meaningless and gratuitous.

    "There is some validity in this but it raises the question as to how far we have come when comments like "could try harder" are outlawed in favour of "needs motivation to engage in learning".

    "A child is no longer labelled with a comment such as "poor concentration". More likely parents are told the student is "finding it difficult to engage".

    "Not working hard enough has been replaced by "needs to be more focused on work". A disruptive child is "distracted from classroom activities"..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link

    
    
    
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Education in Labor spotlight
    by Peter Ker
    
    "[Victoria] pledge to make education its priority was reinforced yesterday with election sweeteners for primary school, tertiary and technical sectors.

    "Facilities in regional Victoria were the focus of yesterday's promises as Labor stepped up its attack on the Nationals, accusing them of "kowtowing" to the Liberals when in coalition government..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    [The Victoria State Election is on 25 November.]

    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Youth counsellors fail to detect suicide signs
    by Jonathan Pearlman
    
    "School counsellors and youth workers are failing to detect children at risk of suicide or ensure vulnerable youths are properly treated, a report by the State Government's Child Death Review Team says.

    "It says counselling services run by schools, the Department of Community Services and juvenile detention centres have failed to screen for mental health problems. "Some [vulnerable] children did not appear to have received any formal mental health screening as part of any assessments undertaken to give focus to ongoing treatment," the team's annual report says. "This highlights the need for caseworkers … who come into contact with distressed children and young people to be appropriately skilled to screen and identify children potentially at risk of suicide and/or who have mental disorders, such as depression or psychosis, and provide the necessary referrals if actual interventions are outside their role." ...
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Students can opt out of Christmas
    by Milanda Rout, education reporter
    
    "Students must be allowed to withdraw from Christmas celebrations for religious reasons, schools have been told.

    "An Education Department memo sent to government schools issues advice about how to celebrate Christmas. It says schools need to be mindful of the secular nature of the government school system..."
    
    "Sent by Office of School Education's Deputy Secretary Darrell Fraser, the letter also recommends an additional "inclusive" event.

    "In schools with particular diverse populations, in addition to any Christmas celebrations, consideration ought to be given to an inclusive end-of-year event, such as a concert and/or valedictory assembly -- in which all students and members of the school community can participate freely," it reads..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

• CNN
  
  
  • Three schools to fingerprint students for lunch program
    
    "Santa Barbara, California (AP) -- A plan to fingerprint elementary school students when they buy lunch has some parents worrying that Big Brother has come to the cafeteria.

    "The Hope Elementary School District has notified parents that, beginning this month, students at Monte Vista, Vieja Valley and Hope elementary schools will press an index finger to a scanner before buying cafeteria food.

    "The scan will call up the student's name and student ID, teacher's name and how much the student owes, since some receive government assistance for food.

    "It is meant to speed up cafeteria lines..."
    
    Full story at CNN Online at link

 

Wednesday 8 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Schools body fails the OBE course test (page 19)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The body charged with implementing outcomes-based education in all WA schools ran into serious problems this year because it was responsible for both writing and accrediting its own courses, a State Government review has found.
    
    "A review of the Curriculum Council Act, tabled without fanfare in Parliament last month, is highly critical of the poor separation between the council's provider and regulator functions and calls for it to set clearer boundaries.
    
    "Fundamentally, the council is, and ought to be, a regulatory body," the report says. "The Curriculum Council does not separate provider and regulator functions neatly."
    
    "The council weathered constant criticism in recent months from teachers and parents who said new OBE courses were poorly prepared and dumbed-down Year 11 and 12 subjects. The public outcry led to 13 OBE courses being delayed a year.
    
    "The review, carried out by the Department of Education Services, also criticises the council for not properly evaluating OBE implementation in primary and lower secondary schools. Instead of independently testing children's learning under the new OBE system, the council simply asked schools to evaluate their implementation of the WA curriculum framework.
    
    "Self-assessment is not an appropriate mechanism as it offends the required objectivity intended by the general scheme of the Act," the review states.
    
    "The report also found fault with the council's administration of the Act, which led to it charging fees for nine years without appropriate authorisation for items such as old exam papers. Retrospective regulations had to be passed to validate the fee collection.
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said yesterday the report had raised some important issues. But she planned to put the council in charge of reviewing itself. [emphasis added]
    
    "I am committed to the formation of a stakeholder group, under the auspices of the Curriculum Council, which will be given the task of examining the report and providing advice," she said. "If necessary, the Curriculum Council Act will be opened up for amendment."
    
    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said news that the council would analyse itself would raise eyebrows among educators.
    
    "Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood said it was inappropriate to comment on the review."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Complaints study spells more woes for Ravlich (page 19)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich is expected to come under more pressure today when a long-awaited report into how the Department of Education and Training handles complaints against staff is released publicly.
    
    "It is understood the report, by State Ombudsman Deirdre O'Donnell, is critical of the department's administrative procedures for dealing with complaints against teachers and other staff.
    
    "The Ombudsman's report comes just three weeks after a damning report by the Corruption and Crime Commission on the Education Department's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against teachers.
    
    "Ms O'Donnell's formal investigation was launched in 2004 after several complaints about the department's handling of complaints, including from concerned parents in the Goldfields town of Laverton.
    
    "During a 2004 television report into allegations of sexual misconduct against a teacher a Laverton, Ms O'Donnell said that, after investigating the sexual misconduct allegations, the complaint and others involving similar issues "indicate there may be an underlying systemic problem in the way the department approaches complaint investigations". Alan Carpenter was education minister at the time.
    
    "Last month's damning CCC report forced the departure of long-serving Education Department director-general Paul Albert, who resigned just hours after Parliament was told the CCC found the Education Department had put its employees' welfare ahead of a safe learning environment for WA's schoolchildren.
    
    "The CCC report also led to calls from the Opposition for Ms Ravlich, who maintained she was not aware of the specifics of the CCC investigation until handed a copy on October 12, to resign but Mr Carpenter backed her throughout the scandal."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Unions want action over teacher shortage (page 19)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "State and private school teachers' unions are calling on Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich to establish a task force to find ways to overcome a looming teacher shortage before it reaches crisis point..."
    
    "The calls come after revelations that the number of students choosing to study education courses at university next year has plunged.
    
    "Compared with last year's figures, the number of students opting to study primary school teaching had dropped 20 per cent or more at Edith Cowan, Curtin and Murdoch universities..."
    
    "The outcry over the botched implementation of outcomes-based education to upper school and media debate on education were factors turning students away from studying teaching..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Call for new uni funding (page 55)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Murdoch University has backed a call for a new funding model for tertiary institutions.
    
    "Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis said Australia's 37 public universities were badly under funded and had called for a funding review to be undertaken by the Productivity Commission.
    
    "Australian university students pay among the highest tuition in the world but universities receive less than it costs to provide for their education," he said yesterday..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • Ravlich, Albert may appear before parliamentary committee
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich and her former director-general Paul Albert could be ordered to appear before a parliamentary committee by the end of next week.

    "In Parliament next week, Upper House Liberal leader Norman Moore will move for a select committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr Albert's recent departure.

    "Mr Albert accepted a management initiated retirement last month just after the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) handed down a damning report into the department's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against teachers.

    "There have been calls for the Minister to stand down ever since but Ms Ravlich insists Mr Albert never told her in detail about the CCC's investigations.

    "Greens' MP Giz Watson says she will support the inquiry.

    "I believe that there is more information that should ... be made public," she said.

    "I don't think the Minister has adequately addressed all the questions put to her and I think it's important that a committee hear from Mr Paul Albert directly.

    "I think it's a very serious issue and there are unanswered questions and yes, depending on what information is forthcoming, of course it has the potential to be embarrassing.

    "We certainly think that it's of sufficient seriousness that it should be dealt with as soon as possible and we would like to see it dealt with before the end of the year."

    "The select committee will have the power to call Ms Ravlich and Mr Albert and former executive director of human resources, Alby Hutz, to appear before it.

    "It is likely to be approved by the Upper House next Wednesday and will start its investigations immediately."
    

    From ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
    
  • WA Minister resigns after connections to Burke revealed
    
    "The Western Australian Premier, Alan Carpenter, has announced the resignation of Norm Marlborough from his ministry..."
    
    Full story at ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
    
    
• The New York Times [similar stories in all US newspapers]
  
  
  • Democrats Seize Control of House; Senate Hangs on Virginia and Montana
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Teachers can't do it alone
      
      "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop calls for zero tolerance of student rudeness in the classroom ("Bishop’s guide to declining manners”, 7/11). I couldn’t agree more, but zero tolerance for rudeness must first be adopted in the home. Parents need to teach good manners together with civility, tolerance and, above all, respect. Sadly, those adults who are inconsiderate, intolerant or disrespectful will probably produce like-minded offspring.

      "Teachers can encourage and reinforce good behaviour, but they should not be expected to do it alone. Good manners are the oil that lubricates our daily lives and greases the wheels of our social interaction with one another. Let’s make sure we give them to our children.
      
      Patsy Rowe, Sanctuary Cove, Qld
      
      

      "As a teacher, I reinforce good manners with my students, but when the highest officials in the land - our politicians - display deplorable manners in very public forums, is it any wonder there is a decline in civility?"
      
      Jason Zagami, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Qld
      
      
      

  • Defence of cuts a 'waste'
    by Ewin Hannan
    
    "Angry Victorian parents have accused the Bracks Government of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars defending "unjustifiable" cuts to school services for disabled children.

    "Parents have taken legal action against the Education Department over the cuts, prompting the Greens to promise to force a parliamentary inquiry into the issue if the minor party wins the upper house balance of power at the state election.

    "Greens upper house candidate and education spokesman Greg Barber said parents of disabled children were being forced to take legal action to pressure the Education Department into meetings its obligations.

    "Mr Barber said an upper house inquiry would examine whether the department had a "deliberate policy of rationing funds for disabled and special-needs kids by restricting eligibility".

    "It seems the state Government would rather fight it through the courts than meet their obligations," he said.

    "Doing that is cruel, it's a waste of money and it's a waste of those kids' potential..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Higher Education Supplement, has 15 articles, including:
    
    
    • Fees do not deter students
      by Dorothy Illing
      
      "Dire warnings that big fee hikes are driving students away from university have been refuted in a new study.

      "As tuition fees reach record heights in Australia, the findings are likely to fuel the political debate about whether to lift caps on fee levels. The study says the transition from free to fees in Australian universities has been relatively problem-free, with the number of students enrolled remaining high.

      "There is little evidence of a flight to vocational degree programs," it says. "The most extreme possible market scenarios have not emerged, and the financial burden borne by students is not perceived as extreme in the context of the enhanced lifetime salary benefits of a university degree." ...
      
      Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
      
      
      

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • School funding outcry
    by Chee Chee Leung
    
    "Fees could rise in Catholic schools unless the State Government significantly increases funding to the "poor cousins" of the education system.

    "Catholic education chiefs warn that some schools are struggling to meet maintenance needs and many are falling behind the highest standards of education. "We're the poor cousins as far as the State Government is concerned," said Neil Brown, Catholic Education Commission of Victoria chairman. National data shows Catholic schools received $1265 in state funding per student — about 16 per cent of the cost for a child in a public school."
    
    From The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Why school is no place to teach good manners

      "Values, manners, civility? Is there anything else federal Education Minister Julie Bishop would like us to add to the already overcrowded and impractical curriculum we struggle to teach in schools (The Age, 7/11)? I am a teacher at an outer northern suburban school in Melbourne, Ms Bishop, and am most concerned about your comments.

      "In the first place, I find it disturbing that you see fit to land schools with yet more social responsibility without offering any sort of indication as to how it might be achieved. You say that while governments cannot legislate to impose civility, schools have a duty to champion good manners, tolerance and respect. How should we do this? Should we model good appropriate behaviour (already done)? Should we punish inappropriate behaviour (I'm not sure if this really works)? I'm confused.

      "I know - we should simply add another subject, Deportment, to the crowded curriculum, and include this as part of a child's assessment? However, there is one small problem: Maths is compulsory, yet not every kid likes maths or achieves in maths. English is compulsory, too, but not everyone has fantastic language skills. How could we ensure that our students actually learnt and applied what we would be teaching them.

      "Most kids at my school are fantastic; a very large minority, though, frequently ignore school rules, wearing (by choice) partially mutilated and graffitied school uniforms and banned items, ignore and argue with their teachers, and behave inappropriately. In many cases these students are regular offenders, so it seems obvious that the school's attempts to coerce them into submission is not working, and in many cases inflames the situation resulting in multiple suspensions. What do you suggest in such situations? Should the school expel those students who won't comply? Or maybe we could deport them for not adhering to Australian manners (sorry, that's another issue, isn't it?).

      "Is it possible, Ms Bishop, that you are missing the point entirely? Perhaps teaching manners is something that is outside the responsibility of our schools. My parents taught me what was right and what was wrong, and how to behave. Perhaps we should have some parental education? But then again, you can't legislate for that."
      
      Tim O'Leary, Lalor
      
      

    • Ritual compliance

      "Julie Bishop cites "evidence" that indicates that the explicit teaching of values contributes to calmer classrooms, positive relationships between teachers and students, an increase in students' capacity for reflection and self management and concludes that such teaching can change teachers' professional practice - leading, she says, to "greater civility". We need to ask "whose values", indeed?

      "What Ms Bishop understands by "respect" for teachers, for school uniforms, for national institutions, the flag, and for others is really a call for "passive or ritual compliance" from our children.

      "What is really needed is a critical engagement with the key issue of why some students (from middle-class families) do better that others (from lower socioeconomic families) in a supposed democratic education system."
      
      David Zyngier, lecturer in curriculum and pedagogy, Monash University, Frankston
      
      

    • Social engineering

      "So now the Government wants to control our children's manners, too. This can be added to the teaching of history in schools and universities, school counselling, pregnancy counselling, marriage counselling and the values that all migrants have to believe in. Where are all those people who used to worry about social engineering? We could do with some of their worry now."
      
      Kathy MacDermott, North Melbourne
      
      

    • Manners maketh the successful man

      "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop should look to the business communication unit in the Bowater School of Management and Marketing at Deakin University for a model of teaching "civility." Our core, required undergraduate course successfully engenders "civility" and "respect". We do this, not by taking the moral high ground, but by showing students how politeness, respect, and empathy are effective business practice that result in successful business transactions.

      "For example, when teaching how to write thankyou notes, students are motivated by the idea that sending a strategic, targeted thankyou note ensures more gifts. This often results in students eventually sending thankyou notes from a sense of gratitude and courtesy. This is because they actually have written one and, as such, are familiar with the conventions and patterns of such discourse. They also discover that it feels good to acknowledge generosity and thoughtfulness.

      "This pedestrian example replicates for more abstract forms of politeness that require the development of empathy, honesty, awareness of others, and assertive rather than aggressive communication.

      "It is not enough to simply say, "Schools have a duty to champion good manners tolerance, and respect." Schools must teach the tangible benefits of good manners, tolerance, and respect until the abstract value is evident to and internalised by the student. We have shown how."
      
      Donald J. Swanson, lecturer, Bowater School of Management and Marketing, Deakin University, Warrnambool
      
      

    • Minister, heal thyself

      "For Julie Bishop to erroneously assume that schools do not "champion good manners, tolerance and respect" is one thing, but to ignore the unedifying behaviour of her fellow members in the Parliament as they fail miserably to set a good example for the general populace to follow, is a clear indication of the ignorance and bias she brings to her role as federal Education Minister. Members on both sides of the House take every opportunity to belittle, denigrate and show blatant disrespect for those on the opposing benches, yet Ms Bishop has the temerity to accuse schools of failing to do what she is not prepared to demand of herself and our other elected representatives."
      
      Brian Williams, Bannockburn
      
      
      

Thursday 9 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Minister ducks the media as watchdog finds Education Department at fault in handling complaints against staff
    
    
    Report turns up heat on Ravlich (page 14)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "The pressure on Alan Carpenter to sack Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich grew yesterday with the release of another damning report on the Education Department's handling of complaints against staff.
    
    "As reported in The West Australian yesterday, State Ombudsman Deirdre O'Donnell's report found "systemic issues" and an overall lack of confidence in the department's complaints management processes.
    
    "Ms O'Donnell criticised the department's culture, saying complainants did not feel they were heard and were not confident their concerns would be dealt with appropriately..."
    
    "Her report reinforced concerns raised in an explosive Corruption and Crime Commission report released last month into the same matter which forced the resignation of former Education Department director-general Paul Albert.
    
    "Ms O'Donnell's report made five recommendations, including that a formal memorandum of understanding be established for the exchange of information between the department, the WA Police and the Child Abuse Investigation Unit.
    
    "Liberal leader Paul Omodei called on Mr Carpenter to sack Ms Ravlich, saying the report was another nail in the coffin for the embattled Minister.
    
    "He said Ms Ravlich had overseen a dark period in the history of WA's education system where the safety of children in schools was not paramount. "This has all been presided over by Ljiljanna Ravlich, she's just led from one disaster to the next," he said. "The public of Western Australia have no confidence in Ljiljanna Ravlich as the Minister for Education, the Premier has to dismiss her."
    
    "Ms Ravlich was due to hold a press conference yesterday afternoon on the Ombudsman's report but cancelled it, instead releasing a statement that she had appointed Supreme Court Justice Neville Owen to oversee major changes to the Education Department's Complaints Management Unit. [emphasis added]
    
    "The Ombudsman's office will report to Parliament on any changes to the department's complaints management process at the end of the year."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    Ousted education boss, Minister to face committee (page 14)
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich’s claim that she was never told of any details of a Corruption and Crime investigation into her department looks set to be tested after the Greens and Liberals vowed to force her and ousted education boss Paul Albert to appear before a parliamentary committee.

    "Greens MLC Giz Watson said yesterday she would back a move by Upper House Liberal leader Norman Moore to set up a three-member select committee to investigate the events surrounding Mr Albert’s departure when Parliament resumed next week.

    "Her decision means Ms Ravlich and Mr Albert could appear before a parliamentary committee by the end of next week. Ms Watson said she wanted both Mr Albert and Ms Ravlich to appear before the committee because there were still questions that needed to be answered.

    "Political analyst Harry Phillips said the Upper House committee would have no problems getting either Ms Ravlich or Mr Albert to appear before it. He believed Mr Albert would still be bound to appear if asked, despite being forced out of his job in the wake of the CCC report scandal under a management initiated retirement which gags him from publicly criticising the department until after the next State election.

    "Last month’s damning CCC report was critical of the Education Department’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against teachers. Ms Ravlich has maintained she knew no details of the CCC investigation until handed a copy on October 12.

    "Ms Watson’s decision came as The West Australian learnt yesterday that Ms Ravlich had lost her fourth chief of staff, Darren Klarich, since she took over the Education portfolio in March last year. [emphasis added]

    "Mr Klarich is believed to have been an old friend and Centre-faction numbers man for Ms Ravlich. The West Australian was told there was an argument in the Minister’s office on Tuesday before Mr Klarich walked out. A spokesman for Ms Ravlich yesterday refused to answer questions about Mr Klarich but a secretary confirmed he no longer worked there."
    
    From The West Australian at link    Go to the link to 'Have Your Say'
    
    
    

  • I got it wrong, admits besieged Carpenter [plus several related stories]
    
    
    • Also, from ABC News, Former WA premier Burke resigns from ALP
      
      
      
      
  • Letters submitted to the Editor
    
    "WA Labor must find another leader. Carpenter's support of D'Orazio, Marlborough, and Ravlich demonstrate that he does not possess the necessary decision making skills to run this State!"
    
    Patrick F Whalen, Newman
    
    
    "For two days running, The West has described the teacher shortage crisis developing in WA. The Department of Education is said to be recruiting overseas.

    "I wonder if anyone at the DET reads The New York Times, which just reported that New York teachers received a pay rise, bringing them to A$ 135,000 a year."

    Steve Kessell, Willetton
    
    
    
    
• The Independent
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Trevor Fisher: A-levels are becoming a useless qualification
    
    "The risk of educational apartheid in England is growing rapidly. Andrew Boggis, the chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), is right to warn about the dangers of a divided system, with public schools abandoning GCSEs and A-levels to set up their own exam system. But what some independent schools are planning is part of a wider issue. The university applications system is fragmenting..."
    
    The writer is the head of history at Newcastle-under-Lyme College
    
    Full story in The Independent at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • MP sacked for lying over Burke dealings [lead "National" story]
    by Alana Buckley-Carr
    
    "Minister Norm Marlborough has been sacked from the West Australian Government after phone taps revealed he had lied about his dealings with disgraced former premier Brian Burke.

    "Mr Marlborough, who held the Small Business portfolio, was forced to resign by Premier Alan Carpenter just hours after he was caught out lying to the Corruption and Crime Commission and could, with Mr Burke, face perjury charges..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    

    • Gasps as killer blow hits home
      
      
    • Ratcatcher Marlborough danced to Pied Piper Burke's tunes
      
      
    • Secret dealings caught on tape
      An edited transcript of calls between Norm Marlborough and Brian Burke
      
      
      
      
  • Op Ed
    Jacquelynne Willcox: Good manners cost nothing
    
    Julie Bishop's call for children to be taught how to be considerate deserves our support
    
    "Though I am sure many will have sniggered and dismissed her as twee, simplistic and even misguided, we should salute Education Minister Julie Bishop's recent call for children to be taught the noble art of being well-mannered..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Student fury over published letters
    by Tony Koch
    
    "Indigenous students at Sydney's Macquarie University are threatening legal action after academic staff used their sensitive personal and community information to obtain a $373,781 commonwealth grant and made assignments public without their permission..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Rocks in their heads: big salaries fail to attract geology students
    by Harriet Alexander, Higher Education Reporter
    
    "Not even the prospect of a six-figure salary will get students interested in rocks.

    "At the same time that a mining industry desperate for the expertise of geologists has allowed some graduates to push their starting salaries beyond $100,000, university geology departments are cutting staff and subjects or closing altogether.

    "The resulting skills deficit will mean the industry will have to hire overseas workers and Australia will be unprepared for environment challenges, said Mike Archer, dean of science at the University of NSW. "This is a serious liability for Australia," Professor Archer said. "I can't think of a single area [of geology] that's not critical to Australia's future." ...
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

  • A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … [detecting gravity waves at Gingin]
    
    
    

Friday 10 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Editorial (page 18)
    Real question is about Premier's competence and leadership
    
    "... The Premier has betrayed public trust by failing to run a clean Cabinet. The matters of principle involved are huge, but it could be said that the immediate effects on the everyday lives of people are negligible – except to the extent that their trust in the competence of the State's political leader to make decisions in their interest has been eroded.
    
    "Mr Carpenter should consider seriously whether he has any claim left on the confidence of people, given the disastrous mess his Government is making without any sign of improvement in education, health and community welfare – the services that really matter to people." [emphasis added]
    
    Full editorial in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor (pages 20-21)
    
    
    • Spot the odd one out
      
      "Since yet another State Labor minister has pooped in his nest and has been forced to resign, here is a good question for students of OBE to answer. What, from the following list, is the odd one out? Easter bunny, tooth fairy, dodo bird, dinosaur, honest politician, tomorrow's sunrise. The answer, of course, is tomorrow's sunrise because all the rest are either mythical or extinct."
      
      G R Simpson, Kingsley
      
      
      
    • Sex accusations can ruin lives
      
      "... I am a female Department of Education teacher who has experienced this. A parent, upset because her children were misbehaving and I was sending letters home to ask for a meeting, accused me of sexual misconduct. There was not, nor has ever been, even a hint of that in my career..."
      
      "Lack of teachers? You bet. When we can have our lives ruined by a mischievous complaint, when we have no protection, when we are working in tough circumstances under a cloud of suspicion, there is little wonder no one wants to do this job. Please don't publish my name Writing to the paper can cause trouble for a department employee."
      
      Name and address supplied
      
      
      
      
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Burke goes as WA Labor splinters
    by Robert Taylor, Amanda Banks and Jessica Strutt
    
    "West Australian Labor tore itself apart yesterday after former premier Brian Burke quit the party, Premier Alan Carpenter threatened to resign and backbenchers said they would defy the Premier's edict not to have contact with Mr Burke.

    "In another tumultuous day for the Carpenter Government, sacked minister Norm Marlborough said he would quit State Parliament as early as today, forcing a byelection for his safe seat of Peel..."
    
    "I gave them the choice between Brian Burke and myself, and the Labor Party has chosen me and I'm glad that they have, because if you want to have people like me in public life then you can't have people like Brian Burke destroying everything that we try to do," Mr Carpenter said...."
    
    "Treasurer and ALP deputy leader Eric Ripper conceded that the Government could not guarantee that cabinet confidentiality had not been breached..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link

    Similar story in most News.com newspapers
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    WA's Burke and ills
    
    Political corruption finds an old friend in WA Labor
    
    "There is an unfortunate but unmistakable air of history repeating itself in Western Australia, where Alan Carpenter's Labor Government is embroiled in controversy over its dealings with business at the height of a spectacular boom in prosperity..."
    
    "Mr Carpenter has little room for excuse. He was a working journalist - first as a political reporter with the Seven Network from 1986 and later as an ABC 7.30 Report presenter - throughout the WA Inc scandal, which cost WA taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and exposed corruption at the core of the state's political process..."
    
    "There is now a serious question mark over Mr Carpenter's suitability for the high office of premier. The Burke affair raises questions as to his intellect and moral judgment..."
    
    Full editorial in The Australian at link [scroll down to second editorial]
    
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • [NSW] TAFE teachers threaten industrial unrest over funding cuts
    
    "Teachers at the Goulburn and Moss Vale TAFE campuses will take industrial action next week if their concerns over funding cuts at both campuses are not addressed."
    
    Full story at ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
    
• The Times
  
  
  • All children may have to stay on at school until 18
    by Greg Hurst and Alexandra Blair
    
    "Children will be compelled to stay in full-time education or training until they reach 18 under proposals being considered by ministers for one of the biggest shake-ups in education for decades..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    Similar story in The Independent
    
    
    
    
• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Editorial
    Class lessons
    
    "The state of many of Victoria's patched-up school classrooms is a disgrace.
    
    "A damning new survey has found many of our children are being taught in crumbling, rat-infested buildings that have no place in a 21st-century education system.

    "An audit of 330 schools across 26 marginal electorates found that decades of neglect had left 90 per cent of schools with inadequate classrooms and facilities..."
    
    Full editorial in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    Numbers crunched, students crushed
    
    "The cutting of outreach worker positions in the Bidwell area highlights the penny-pinching policies affecting services which can be essential to adolescents in time of need ("Helping hand for troubled youth cut off", November 9). This is, however, not the only service to be drastically cut at this time of year.

    "The rigid staffing formula, based solely on student numbers, rather than student needs, disallows many needed programs. School counsellors, for example, are in short supply, and with depression and youth suicide on the increase many young people are placed in "at risk" situations with little support or even acknowledgement of the condition.

    "Learning difficulties teachers, too, are hampered by the rigid formula. When time is allocated solely on the basis of literacy and numeracy test results, those children most in need of extra literacy support are denied. Even to arrive at school each day is a major feat for some children, let alone making progress in academic studies.

    "When lives are overturned on a personal level it is of little consequence as to whether they remember their books and pens. Support is needed to assist these teenagers to progress and to make their lives meaningful. The contribution they make in the future will depend on the beginning we give them.

    "The Education Department's number crunchers are in full swing at this time of year, and many teacher and counsellor resources are severely cut.

    "There appears to be no lobby group to take up the cause of these needy children, for there is little voting power in the fight.

    "It is, of course, the children most in need, with little or no voice, who are most likely to miss out. The cost-cutting measures in our public schools are often petty and in many cases shameful.

    "Our children, and especially our most needy children, need to be considered first, not a strict number-crunching formula.

    "Are you listening, Minister? Our future is in your hands."

    Janice Creenaune, Austinmer
    
    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at link

    
    
    
• The Adelaide Advertiser
  
  
  • 40pc of SA school leavers 'out on a limb'
    by Xanthe Kleinig, education reporter
    
    "School leavers in South Australia have a more difficult transition from school, compared with other states.
    
    "Almost 40 per cent of South Australians who left school last year were not in either further education or full-time work by May, 2006.

    "The national figure is 30 per cent, according to the How Young People are Faring 2006 report released yesterday from the Dusseldorp Skills Forum, a not-for-profit think tank..."
    
    Full story in The Adelaide Advertiser at link
    
    
    

• The Northern Territory News
  
  
  • Anger over shame school punishment
    by Emma Gumbleton
    
    "Parents are angry at a decision to punish five primary pupils by humiliating them in front of the entire school.
    
    "The Education Department said the incident was "unfortunate" and the teacher had been reprimanded..."
    
    Full story in The NT News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Arizona Republic
  
  
  • Private tests get kids into gifted classes [6 November]
    by Pat Kossan
    
    "Hundreds of parents in Arizona are doing an end-around their neighborhood schools to get their kids in gifted programs.

    "They're turning to a little-known state rule that mandates if a psychologist or other "qualified professional" tests a child and determines he or she is gifted, the school must put the student into a full- or part-time gifted classroom. It applies even if the child failed the school's test for being gifted.

    "Some parents call it "buying in." Private one-on-one testing costs from $250 to $700. In districts where parents are aware of the option and have the cash, they often successfully use private tests to get their kids in gifted classes..."
    
    Full story in The Arizona Republic at link
    
    
    

• Stuff.co.nz
  
  
  • Text language 'strongly discouraged'
    
    "Use of text abbreviations in national exams is still being "strongly discouraged", a spokesman for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) said today.

    "NZQA spokesman Steve Rendle said there had been no change in the authority's policy on abbreviations in NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) exams..."
    
    From Stuff.co.nz at link
    
    

Saturday – Sunday, 11 – 12 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • High school staff reject OBE masters' revisions (page 6)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The furore over the State Government's outcomes-based education plan is set to reignite after the entire staff of a metropolitan State high school backed a motion of no-confidence in the Curriculum Council.
    
    "About 100 Kelmscott Senior High School teachers voted unanimously for the motion, sparked by teachers' anger over revised Years 11 and 12 OBE courses.
    
    "Curriculum Council staff are battling to finish rewriting OBE courses in time to meet State Government deadlines.
    
    "Council chief executive David Wood is confident that nearly 40 OBE courses will be ready by next month to give teachers 12 months preparation for 2008. But many teachers are sceptical, saying course writers have not had enough time.
    
    "Kelmscott principal Tony Terry refused to comment yesterday. Teachers said the council had failed to produce syllabuses with clear content.
    
    "The Curriculum Council recently released 16 draft courses, giving teachers three weeks to comment via n online survey.
    
    "School and subject sectors were expected to circulate emails notifying teachers of the survey. The council has had about 30 responses per course.
    
    "Mr Wood said he was willing to meet Kelmscott staff. All 13 OBE courses would be accredited by December 6. The council would also accredit another 25 new OBE courses originally scheduled for Year 11 in 2008.
    
    "The council would apply a new "provisional accreditation" status to some courses so more changes could be made next year..."
    
    "Teachers' group People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes backed Kelmscott's motion."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Ravlich admits to calls and a meeting with Burke (page 4)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has admitted she was contacted by ALP powerbroker Brian Burke three times in the past year, including over the controversial issue of outcomesbased education..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian at link
    
    Very similar to the story in The Weekend Australian
    
    
    
  • Uni tries free laptops to stem skills crisis (page 11)
    by Gabrielle Knowles
    
    "The University of WA is offering civil engineering students a free laptop in an innovative bid to beat the skills crisis threatening the industry..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
    
• The Weekend Australian
  
  
  • Burke introduced Ravlich to editor
    by Tony Barrass
    
    "Disgraced former premier Brian Burke brokered a meeting between the editor of Western Australia's state-based daily newspaper and an embattled Carpenter government minister.

    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich was told by Mr Burke that he regularly met Paul Armstrong, editor of The West Australian, and knew him "very well".

    "She said she had taken advice from Mr Burke before she met Mr Armstrong in the company of Norm Marlborough, who was sacked this week as small business minister.

    "She was worried about how best to deal with the editor and the newspaper's critical coverage of plans to introduce outcomes-based education (OBE) in the state's schools..."
    
    "In answering questions put by The Australian to all Carpenter government ministers about their relationship with Mr Burke, Ms Ravlich said last night that, to the best of her recollection, she had been contacted by him three times in the past year.

    "About six months ago, when The West Australian was running a very personal campaign against me and OBE, Mr Burke phoned me and said he knew the editor, Paul Armstrong, very well and met with him regularly," Ms Ravlich said.

    "Mr Burke suggested that I should arrange to meet with Mr Armstrong and told me Mr Armstrong would be expecting my call. I rang Mr Armstrong and suggested that we meet in a coffee shop and that Norm Marlborough also attend. Mr Armstrong strongly insisted that we had to go to his office.

    "Prior to meeting Mr Armstrong, I met Mr Burke at Mr Marlborough's home and Mr Burke made some observations about Mr Armstrong. The outcome of the meeting with Mr Armstrong was that I would not back down in the face of his attacks on me over OBE or any other education matter."

    "Ms Ravlich, who has been under fire recently over issues relating to her education portfolio, said she had a sympathetic ear in the former premier.

    "Recently, Mr Burke called me again, shortly after the Corruption and Crime Commission had tabled its report into the handling of sexual misconduct allegations against school staff. He offered me sympathy and encouragement," she said.

    "I have had very limited contact with Mr Burke and I have never taken orders from him, paid for his services, or been directed by him to do anything. The Premier has made it clear that cabinet ministers should have no further contact with Mr Burke in his capacity as lobbyist, and I fully support that." ...
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    Similar story in The West Australian

    
    
    
  • Editorial
    National scandal
    Labor's coast-to-coast rollcall of ministerial dishonour
    
    "Having largely squandered a decade of economic prosperity, state Labor governments around the nation are mired in scandal, giving voters every right to shake their heads in dismay and disbelief. Like an ethical train wreck, there's controversy from Tasmania in the south to Townsville in the north, Sydney in the east to Subiaco in the west..."
    
    "In Western Australia, the ghosts of WA Inc have re-emerged to snare new premier Alan Carpenter, who displayed an immediate lapse of judgment in allowing disgraced former premier Brian Burke to weasel his way back into the highest levels of government. That contact has already scalped one minister and a continuing Corruption and Crime Commission investigation may have many shocks still in store..."
    
    "Combined with chronic decay of public infrastructure and dallying on genuine state co-operation on essential issues, it is a poor scorecard for a period of economic good fortune that may be unrivalled for generations. The states' financial windfall from the introduction of a GST and booming property tax receipts has largely been frittered away on a bloated public sector and recurrent spending. State Labor is looking ragged and the promised benefits of national co-operation born of party unity have proved illusory. State Oppositions can share much of the blame for failing to hold their governments to account. The carnage among ministers for corruption, inattention and stupidity is the product of much deeper problems of administrative failure."
    
    Full editorial in The Weekend Australian at link [scroll down to second editorial]
    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    State Labor the loser in a surfeit of sleaze
    by Mike Steketee, National affairs editor
    
    "A minister in NSW charged with child sex offences, another in Western Australia caught lying about his dealings with disgraced former premier Brian Burke, Tasmania's sacked deputy premier charged with criminal conspiracy, police corruption and party branch stacking running sores in Victoria ...

    "If Labor were a private company and it wanted to repair its public image, it would change its name. How about the Clean Up Government Party? ..."
    
    "Voters already have a world-weary cynicism about their elected representatives but allegations in NSW and WA this week are so serious that they can only drag down further the reputations of all politicians. Think of a way to maximise revulsion among voters and there is no going past a minister allegedly using money and drugs to seduce a child. For West Australians, a replay of WA Inc and the stench of corruption that went with it is a strong contender. It is true that most politicians work hard and many actually want to make Australia a better place. It is just that it is not a good time to convince voters that is the case..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link

    
    
    
  • Schooled for a spell of trouble
    Jokes about softening of education standards would be funnier if they weren't so true, writes Shelley Gare
    
    "A Tasmanian reader writes to a newspaper column, describing what happened when her husband tried to hire a car at Sydney airport. Given his credit card and driver's licence, the clerk punched several computer keys fruitlessly before asking helplessly: "Is Tasmania in New Zealand?"

    "A university lecturer discovers that of the 33 students in her class, not one has heard of Chairman Mao. What's more, they get irritated when she expresses astonishment. "How would we know that unless we'd studied Chinese history?" they demand of her.

    "The lack of general knowledge among so many of us is now so mind-bogglingly obvious that it has become part of the culture to swap funny stories. But this is an ignorance that has been learned. And too many of us stood by and let it happen..."
    
    "Our thinking processes have been addled by postmodernism, with its insistence that nothing is better than anything else..."
    
    "Two generations of experimented-upon young Australians have emerged unable to read, write and think with the skill and clarity they should have been able to assume would be theirs.

    "Too often, under the postmodern influence, schooling has turned into a hatchery for baby airheads unable to think for themselves or communicate clearly..."
    
    "The real message: don't aspire, think small. Let the child's existing knowledge be the yardstick of everything he or she is to be taught in future; and then, to top it off, like a monstrous shiny artificial cherry on a cake of fake cream and off-the-shelf sponge, let children be the judge of their own progress and let them be measured by their own ability.

    "Such theory is behind the much vaunted outcomes-based education that now flourishes in Australia and other "new" countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the US and South Africa..." [emphasis added]
    
    This is an edited extract from The Triumph of the Airheads - and the Retreat from Commonsense by Shelley Gare (Park Street Press, $29.95). Obtainable online at www.media21publishing.com. Gare is a former deputy editor of The Australian and was founding editor of The Australian's Review of Books.
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    

     

• The Sunday Times
  
  
  • Editorial
    Carps fans bushfire (page 73)
    by Joe Spagnolo
    
    "Alan Carpenter may well be remembered as the man who threw away a golden opportunity to create a Labor dynasty..."
    
    "Carpenter and Labor can recover from the Marlborough affair.

    "What Labor can't recover from is another year of ministerial scandals as the state creeps closer to the next election. [emphasis added]

    "Carpenter showed strength on Thursday when he forced Burke to resign from the Labor Party. He needs to show more of it and he needs to start showing better judgment and leadership..."
    
    Full editorial in The Sunday Times at link
    
    

  • Hysterical negativity – Premier (page 9)
    by Joe Spagnolo
    
    Alan Carpenter: "There is almost hysterical negativity from The West Australian newspaper and it continues unrelenting on a daily basis. I have stopped getting that newspaper delivered to my home because of this negativity and the fact I don't want my wife and children to have to start the day with it in the house. So I cancelled its delivery and I'd encourage others to do the same..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Sunday Times
    
    
    
    
  • Schools urged to study trauma book (page 19)
    
    "The state's top traffic cop has called for a teenage novel about road trauma to be made compulsory reading in schools..."
    
    "It tells the story of a young boy... whose brother crashes his car while drink-driving, killing his two friends and leaving his cousin a quadriplegic. It traces the impact on each family member."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Times
    
    
    
    
• The Sunday Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Mind your manners, Julie
    by Andrew Stephens
    
    "... Education Minister Julie Bishop last week became the nation's Miss Manners, chastising naughty, rude children and calling for manners to be taught in schools. But there may be a blot on Bishop's own copybook: it was reported last week that the minister failed to respond to many letters from the National Union of Students requesting a meeting (which is now being arranged). It would be rude to point out that failing to respond to a letter is very bad manners indeed..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    
    
  • Labor to rebuild rundown schools
    by Jason Dowling
    
    "Hundreds of millions of dollars would be spent rebuilding neglected Victorian schools by a re-elected Bracks Government, Labor is poised to announce.

    "The party has named education as its No. 1 priority and the school rebuilding policy, which could be announced as early as tomorrow at the party's campaign launch in Ballarat, is expected to commit up to $1 billion to rebuild crumbling schools built decades ago..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

• The Sunday Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Private school fees on the rise
    by Mary Papadakis
    
    "Parents will spend up to $570 per week on private school education fees from next year..."
    
    "Geelong Grammar will raise fees by up to 6.1 per cent with year 10 to 12 day [students] to pay $22,900 each year or about $570 per school week.

    "Full board fees have also increased, with year 9 to 12 students to pay $38,800, up from $36,560..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

  • Teachers get ritzy presents
    by Mary Papadakis
    
    "Private school teachers are being lavished with expensive gifts from parents and students in the lead-up to Christmas.
    
    "The humble apple has been replaced by French champagne, perfume, meals, lingerie, department store gift vouchers and stays in city hotels..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Sunday Telegraph [and other News.com newspapers]
  
  
  • Angry students bully university mentors
    
    "University academics are the targets of bullying from angry students who have failed exams and assignments, a union has said.

    "The National Tertiary Education Union said standover tactics, emotional blackmail and emails are current forms of bullying.

    "But some academics have been stalked and forced to take out apprehended violence orders, the union told Fairfax newspapers..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Sunday Telegraph at link
    
    Similar story in The Melbourne Age

    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • Parents join campaign against proposed report card system
    
    [I don't think this is a WA story, as it's also given under ABC News for NSW and the ACT.    Web]
    
    "Some parents have joined the campaign against A to E report cards for students.

    "The Commonwealth wants schools to mark all students with grades from A to E, and has threatened to withhold funding if teachers do not comply.

    "The Education Union has opposed the grades, and says they could damage students' self-esteem.

    "The Association of State School Organisations has written to the state and federal education ministers, asking if parents can choose not to receive the grades.

    "The Association's director David Knuckey says the A to E system can be damaging and over-simplistic.

    "If they see a D, that's a failure and they don't really read what comes after that," he said.

    "Mr Knuckey says he understands parents in other states have been offered the chance to withdraw from the system."
    

    From ABC News Online at link
    
    
    
    
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Satire
    Manners maketh a model minister
    by Michael Shmith
    
    Transcript of morning assembly, Parliament Primary School, Canberra, ACT. Teacher: Miss J. I. Bishop (B.Ed, M.Ed, PhD, University of Kalgoorlie).

    "Good morning, class.

    "Good morning, Miss Bishop.

    "You may sit — all, that is, except for Howard, who didn't bother to stand and will now kindly do so for the rest of the lesson … what? … oh … you were standing. Well, sit down and don't interrupt. And stop that snivelling.

    "Now, this is the first of several classes we're holding in political deportment and general good manners. The decline in civility in the upper and lower schools has been of extreme concern to the headmaster, Major-General Jeffery, who has said it would not have been tolerated in his day at Duntroon. While we don't want to go as far as the headmaster's remedy of cold baths and 3am runs around Lake Burley Griffin in one's underwear, we do feel some extra tuition is in order to restore at least some spirit of decency..."
    
    "Yes, Beazley? No, corporal punishment isn't a good idea and I don't care if Tuckey said he wanted to push your head round the S-bend in the boys' toilets; it's no excuse for you to leave a dead mouse in his pigeonhole..."
    
    Full article in The Melbourne Age at link
    

 

• The Canberra Times
  
  
  • Plan to spare schools: Legal fight to stop closures
    by Markus Mannheim
    
    "The ACT Government is set to spare several of the 39 schools and pre-schools earmarked for closure in its radical push to reform Canberra's public education system..."
    
    Full story in The Canberra Times at link
    
    

All Alston cartoons are © The West Australian Newspaper
All media quotations, photographs and cartoons © their respective publishers

This page last updated 14 August, 2008 1:42 AM