Monday 26 May [BCA teacher pay proposal]

Tuesday 27 May

Wednesday 28 May

Thursday 29 May

Friday 30 May

Saturday – Sunday, 31 May – 1 June

 

Monday 26 May

• The Australian
  
  
  • Double teacher pay: business [Lead National Story]
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Big business has called for the top rate of pay for teachers to be almost doubled under a national system of accreditation to raise the status of the profession.

    "The Business Council of Australia also supports setting a minimum university entry score of 75 for teaching courses and is considering establishing a scholarship scheme to encourage the brightest students to become teachers.

    "The policy paper released today by the BCA sets out a five-point plan to recognise outstanding teachers and keep them in the classroom, and to lift the standard of the profession.

    "A key recommendation of Teaching Talent, prepared by the Australian Council for Educational Research, is overhauling the salary scale for teachers and establishing a national certification scheme recognising four levels of proficiency.

    "It would raise the present highest salary level from about $70,000 for the most experienced classroom teachers to about $130,000.

    "Salary may not be a strong reason why current teachers have chosen to teach, but it is a strong reason why many abler graduates choose not to teach," the paper says. "Who really believes that a top salary for classroom teachers of about $70,000 means we place sufficient value on teachers' work to attract the best university graduates?

    "There is no justification for assuming ... that our society can continue to get away with not paying teachers what they are worth." [emphasis added]

    "The BCA says the first step in improving educational standards is to attract the best people into teaching, and it calls for a review of the current system that fills teaching courses regardless of academic ability.

    "The entry score into primary teaching courses in some universities is less than 60 per cent although some have scores higher than 80 per cent.

    "(This) means Australia is recruiting substantial numbers of primary teachers from the middle third of high school graduates rather than the top third," the paper says.

    "The current practice whereby universities are free to enrol students in teacher education courses until they fill course quotas, regardless of academic ability, clearly needs to be reviewed."

    "The BCA "strongly endorses" the recommendations made in two parliamentary reports for raising entry standards, including setting entry scores at a minimum of 75 and all primary teaching students having studied English, maths and science in Year 12.

    "The BCA scheme sets out ratios of pay for each level, with the top teachers receiving 2.5 times the starting salary, which is close to $50,000 in most states. [emphasis added]

    "The present salary scale is flat compared with other professions, with teachers reaching their highest level of about $70,000 after only eight years.

    "Teaching graduates would be given provisional registration and expected to attain the level of registered teacher within three years after meeting state and territory competency standards. Under the BCA scheme, registered teachers would be paid 1.25 times the starting salary, which is close to $50,000 in most states.

    "The initial stages of teacher registration would be handled by the states and territories but the BCA argues for a voluntary national system for the top two levels, overseen by an independent national teacher accreditation agency.

    "The standard for accomplished teacher would reflect the standards expected of teachers after 10 years in the profession, and they would be paid twice the starting salary.

    "Leading-teacher status would be based on a track record of leading and managing colleagues in initiatives to improve student learning and welfare and would be paid at 2.5 times the starting salary.

    "The proposal is modelled on the NSW Institute of Teachers and the BCA estimates it will take 10 years to establish a national certification system."

  From The Australian at link
  
  Similar stories in The West Australian, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and ABC News
  
  Full BCA report, BCA press release and ABC radio interview at this link
  
  ABC Radio Interview with Julia Gillard on the BCA Report (from her website):

  "While New South Wales Education Minister John Della Bosca has dismissed the Business Council paper as "unfunded" and "unworkable", his federal counterpart, Julia Gillard, welcomes the report..." [but NO commitment to higher pay for teachers... See report from ABC News, below... Web]
  
  

  BCA Report: Teaching Talent: The Best Teachers for Australia’s Classrooms Executive Summary - The quality of teaching is the main driver of successful student learning outcomes. - Australia's teaching profession and its schools constitute an infrastructure that is critical to its survival in an increasingly global economy. - Every student deserves teachers who are suited to teaching, well trained and qualified, highly skilled, caring and committed to moving forward the learning of their students. - One of the main roles of leadership in professions is to build a framework for professional learning from registration to advanced levels of standards, and systems for providing assessments and certification for members who reach those standards. It is important, therefore, to strengthen leadership in quality teaching at the wider professional level as well as at the level of the individual school. Education in Australia is still highly bureaucratised, and it is time to question whether bureaucratic management of schools by state education departments is sufficient to deliver the kind of leadership that influences teachers' practice significantly or improves student learning outcomes. - Stakeholders are unanimous that the first step in achieving improved outcomes in education is to attract the best people into teaching. - Salary may not be a strong reason why current teachers have chosen to teach, but it is a strong reason why many abler graduates choose not to teach, and this is cause for considerable concern if we want our education system to remain among the best in the world. There is no justification for assuming from this that our society can continue to get away with not paying teachers what they are worth. Research studies also constantly confirm that salary and working conditions are the main reasons why many good teachers leave the profession. - Present arrangements in teaching do not encourage, reward or indeed require advanced professional learning. - It is clear that there is a broad consensus that action is needed to radically strengthen procedures for recognising and rewarding teachers who reach high teaching standards. - Who really believes that a top salary for classroom teachers of about $70,000 means we place sufficient value on teachers' work to attract the best university graduates? Who really believes that the typical office spaces in which teachers are expected to prepare and assess student work and carry out their business are indicators of an attractive and esteemed profession? - Attracting enough people into teacher education and attracting people of suitable quality are two major issues that tend to work against each other. Any decline in the attractiveness of teaching is cause for concern, particularly if this results in universities lowering entry standards to fill their allocated quotas for teacher education students. When decline in the attractiveness of teaching as a career coincides with projected teacher shortages, this increases the pressure for entry standards to fall. This is the situation we face at present. Entry standards to teaching must not be allowed to fall further. Rather, they should rise. - The next step is to prepare future teachers through teacher education programs that meet the highest standards. It is becoming clear that the most effective way of achieving quality and consistency will be through a system of national accreditation of teacher education courses. - There is a pressing need for a unified national approach to managing teacher demand and supply. - There are no cost-neutral ways to ensure that in the future Australia will have a teaching profession equal to the best in the world. But there will be major costs if we do not. Fortunately, there is broad public recognition of the need for better pay and conditions for teachers. This is conditional, however, on guarantees that it will be linked to sound evidence of improving teacher quality and professional performance. - Newly conceived career paths are needed for the teaching profession to ensure that teachers have strong incentives to engage in the type of professional learning that leads to high teaching standards and improves student learning outcomes. Salary structures for teachers need to be more effective as instruments for promoting widespread use of successful teaching practices. - Although there is strong agreement that teacher quality is fundamental, it is currently difficult to find evidence of coherent, concerted, coordinated policy efforts at state and federal levels focused on teacher quality. Accountability for ensuring quality teachers and school leaders is unclear and diffused. - Education policy needs to focus more clearly on what matters most to student learning - concerted, long-term policies and strategies to assure quality in the teaching profession. We know that good teachers matter, but we must start to act as if we really believed it.

   

  • No excuses for indigenous students
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The indigenous community has to discard the misguided notion that gaining an education makes them less Aboriginal.

    "One of the nation's most respected indigenous educators, Chris Sarra, has called on the Aboriginal community to ensure children take their rightful place in the Rudd Government's education revolution.

    "Ahead of his address to the National Press Club today to mark Sorry Day, Dr Sarra said Australian society had to stop making excuses for Aboriginal students being chronic under-achievers who failed to attend school, and expect the same of them as any other student.

    "He said the Aboriginal community had a responsibility to embrace the education revolution and discard any idea that it threatened indigenous culture.

    "We have to stop making excuses now and stop thinking schools are turning our kids into being like white kids," he told The Australian.

    "We have to understand the more educated we become, the greater the scope for us to enhance our culture and sense of Aboriginal identity." ...

    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • Too early to comment on teacher pay rise calls: Gillard
    
    "Education Minister Julia Gillard says it is too early to say if the Federal Government would support a top pay rate for teachers of $130,000, as the Business Council of Australia (BCA) suggests.

    "A new report for the BCA calls for two new levels for teachers - one paid at up to $110,000 per year and the highest up to $130,000.

    "It also says the levels should not be linked to student test results because that is not an accurate measure, but instead teachers should be encouraged to apply for higher accreditation to recognise their own professional skills.

    "Ms Gillard says the federal and state governments aim to agree on a new plan for teachers' pay in December.

    "We're already hard at work with our state and territory colleagues, working out how we can improve teacher quality and how we can reward excellence in teaching," she said.

    "Every policy and plan of the Government has to be be worked through carefully and costed - and of course we will be doing that work."

    "The Education Union has welcomed the Business Council's report.

    "Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos hopes the report will focus the Government's attention on investing in education.

    "The Rudd Government has policy on this, which broadly reflects this proposal. What's lacking from the Rudd Government is money on the table."

    "Earlier Opposition education spokesman Tony Smith said change was needed to lift the standard of people applying for the job.

    "We need to get the best and brightest into teaching and when we get them in we need to keep them in there," he said.

    "Putting computers in schools, the schools will welcome [that] but - as one teacher said to me recently - they're not of much use if we don't have the teachers there.

    "The quality teachers will make the difference in the classroom.

    "There's nothing more important than the quality of our teachers and this is where the focus of any education revolution should be."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • WA Minister not concerned by teachers' salary report
    
    "Western Australian Education Minister Mark McGowan says he is not concerned about the implications of a new report calling for teachers to be paid up to $130,000.

    "The State School Teachers Union has been embroiled in a pay dispute with the Government since late last year.

    "A report by the Business Council of Australia calls for two new levels of teacher, one paid at up to $110,000 a year and the highest up to $130,000.

    "Mr McGowan has defended the Government's pay offer.

    "These ideas are fine in theory but you need to work within a budget and you need to make sure you put more teachers in the work force for longer," he said.

    "That means making sure all of our teachers are well paid, but especially rewarding those going to difficult locations."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • Teachers' pay call 'ludicrous': NSW Govt
    
    "New South Wales Education Minister John Della Bosca has described as ludicrous a proposal to raise some teachers' salaries to $130,000 a year.

    "The Business Council of Australia is calling for the boost to teachers' pay, saying many talented people are avoiding the profession because of the low salary.

    "But Mr Della Bosca says raising salaries to $130,000 a year is unrealistic.

    "Suggesting we double teachers pay with no prospect of paying for it, I'm afraid, is just a bit of pie in the sky," he said.

    "The Business Council's plan calls for two new levels for teachers - one paid at up to $110,000 per year and the highest up to $130,000.

    "It also says the levels should not be linked to student test results because that is not an accurate measure.

    "The council says teachers should instead be encouraged to apply for higher accreditation to recognise their own professional skills.

    "The State Government says the plan would cost it more than $2 billion a year

    "But Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran says teachers have been undervalued for too long.

    "It is a large funding package but it is time for governments to invest in the teaching profession," she said.

    "Governments over the years have refused to put in funding because there are a lot of teachers. Governments have refused to recognise the value that those teachers have in the community."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The West Australian
  
  
  • Call to put CCTV in high schools (page 15)
    by Aleisha Preedy
    
    "Installing closed-circuit television cameras in WA high schools would help control bullying, vandalism and drug trafficking, according to WA Secondary Executives Association president Rob Nairn.
    
    "Mr Nairn said schools that reported many cases of antisocial behaviour would benefit if security cameras were introduced after Victorian principals said they had led to a marked decrease in bullying when installed in 95 per cent of State schools.
    
    “If there’s something happening and we have the technology to stop it, with common sense, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be pursued,” Mr Nairn said.
    
    “Most shopping centres are under video surveillance. Yes, there needs to be a commonsense approach, but I can see how security cameras would be beneficial.
    
    “If security cameras could assist with any negative issues that occurred in schools that would be a positive step.”
    
    "A Department of Education and Training spokesman said some WA State schools at risk of damage and vandalism had used temporary security cameras but there were no plans to introduce them permanently to help monitor bullying.
    
    "State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne called Mr Nairn’s idea an intrusion on privacy and that any “Big Brother-type” security system could put students and teachers at risk of misinterpretation.
    
    “Once you put in place these sorts of measures where you are having people observed 24 hours a day, that can impede the development of good relationships between teachers and students and there’s always a risk the information on cameras can be taken out of context and used for other less savoury matters,” she said.
    
    “If there was a need for security cameras, it would need to be done in a restricted way and the location of these cameras would need to be carefully considered and done in consultation with teaching staff.
    
    “I would also think parents would be concerned about the risk the information and footage could be badly used if put into the wrong hands.”
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    
    
    • In Short
      
      "I'm very proud to an old Ionian after reading Wednesday's The West Australian. I think it is a very bold move for Ms Herley to challenge what the students at most western suburbs schools think they are entitled to. The Year 12 ball is an event that certainly needs reassessing. In a world that seems increasingly less concerned with challenging the norm, I put my full support behind Ms Herley and Iona Presentation College."

      J.Swarbrick, Nedlands

      
      
      
• The Age
  
  
  • Editorial
    Better education for all students must be the goal
    
    Private schools should not dismiss out of hand federal government ideas for a new funding model.
    
    "Ten years ago a newly elected federal backbencher gave his maiden speech in which he raised the many problems that he believed beset the country's education system. As Prime Minister a decade later, Kevin Rudd still speaks passionately about the power of education, describing it as the engine room of equity. Indeed, his "education revolution" is a major plank in his government's social policy.

    "Last week, Mr Rudd's Education Minister, Julia Gillard, advanced federal Labor's apparent commitment to reform in this area when she raised the possibility of a new funding model for private and public schools. In a speech to the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, she announced that a review of the current funding model for private schools would be finished by 2012 — funding that she said the Government would maintain until that time — and that she expected new arrangements to begin from 2013.

    "What exactly these new arrangements will be is not yet entirely clear, but would be developed around the idea that the way in which private schools are funded should be extended to those in the public system, a system that educates the greater majority of Victoria's children.

    "Under the current socio-economic status formula, private schools are funded according to the income, occupation and education of parents within the school's census district. If this system were to be applied to public schools, Ms Gillard believes they would be better equipped to serve their communities, communities that vary greatly in their social and economic make-up.

    "Ms Gillard said she did not believe the existing funding arrangements properly served the best interests of schools, students, teachers or families. Indeed, she described the current funding system as one of the most complex and confusing in the developed world. She could also have easily added that it is also one of the most divisive, engendering what can only be described as a kind of smouldering class enmity.

    "The minister is to be congratulated for an idea that, refreshingly, moves beyond the public/private school division. If the Government's research is accurate, the distribution of wealth, occupation and education levels is changing, the result being that some private schools now serve poorer communities and some government schools cater for those that are more affluent.

    "Therefore, there is much to recommend a funding model that responds to changing demographics and better targets disadvantage by allocating money where it is most needed. Funding based on community need rather than systemic difference makes sense and should be seriously considered by those involved in directing the future of Victoria's schools.

    "Ms Gillard's announcement that she will make public the forthcoming socio-economic status scores that will be used to determine school funding levels for 2009-12 is also to be endorsed. It will help increase the transparency of who gets what and why, and will go some way to help alleviate the tension between the two sectors.

    "Non-government schools have been quick to question the Government's proposed changes, speculating about a major upheaval in funding that could leave them not as well off in the future. Shadow education minister Tony Smith has even raised the spectre of a reappearance of Mark Latham's so-called hit list of 67 private schools whose funding would have been sharply cut under ALP policy — a policy that was a major factor in Labor's drubbing at the 2004 election.

    "But they have jumped the gun. Under Ms Gillard's nascent policy, the private school system as a whole would be no worse off — it is the distribution of money to individual schools that would be different, some might even say more equitable.

    "A review of the way in which schools are funded is appropriate. The current model, introduced by the Howard government in 2001, and which guaranteed that no school would lose money, clearly has problems, not the least of which is its inconsistency. Indeed, according to an Education Department report, the model is not being applied fairly to all schools, with two-thirds of Catholic and a quarter of independent schools receiving more money than they were entitled to.

    "Ms Gillard is heading in the right direction to create a fairer schools funding system, one that, in turn, could lead to a better education for all Victorians. That is not something that should be too easily dismissed."
    

    From The Age at link
    
    
    
  • The Monday Education Section has nine articles, including:
    
    
    • P-12 schools 'could do better'
      by Caroline Milburn
      
      "Most of Victoria's growing number of prep to year 12 schools are not fulfilling their potential.

      "A review commissioned by the State Education Department into state, Catholic and independent P-12 schools found most have not developed or improved as they could have because they continue to operate as if they are separate primary and secondary schools.

      "There is little evidence that P-12 schools are developing a plan for seamlessness or of continuity, or even identifying the characteristics or qualities of a seamless curriculum across the P-12 spectrum," the review says.

      "Victoria has about 190 P-12 schools that provide both primary and secondary education, with more than half operating in the independent school sector. Most are in regional Victoria. However, the number in urban areas is growing because of changes in demographics and the merger of schools with dwindling enrolments.

      "The review found few P-12 schools, apart from some small rural ones, are taking advantage of their structure by offering a unified curriculum, cross-age tutoring and programs, and sharing staff expertise across the year levels of prep to year 12. The overwhelming reason that P-12 schools gave for not planning their curriculum on a P-12 basis was cultural differences between the primary and secondary sectors. The review found the differences were underpinned by:

      • Teacher education courses that traditionally train teachers in only one sector.
      • Different industrial awards for primary and secondary teachers.
      • Each sector using different approaches to learning.

    "Phil Brown, whose organisation, the Country Education Project, co-ordinated the review, says education authorities in government and non-government school sectors have been slow to provide policy leadership on P-12 schools, given the number of such schools has been steadily rising over the past 30 years.

    "It's a bit sad that we have not progressed the potential of P-12 schools that can allow kids and teachers to move up and down a school with a lot more freedom than is usually the case," says Mr Brown, the project's CEO. "A year 5 kid who is extremely talented in maths could be working with year 8 kids. A whiz-bang VCE teacher could provide deep and rich content learning in primary school. There are a lot of ways to transpose a teacher's skill base and teaching strategies to different levels of a school. It's happening in some schools but, unfortunately, not in many."

    "The review found middle-years policy initiatives by education authorities have led to some P-12 curriculum planning and sharing of staff across years 5 to 8. However, Nicholas Abbey, chairman of the review's research reference group, says many schools that adopt such an approach still rely on the traditional divisions that characterise primary and secondary schooling.

    "We found there was a movement away from primary and secondary schools being co-located in a P-12 school to the development of three mini schools in a P-12 with an assistant principal attached to each one. From a management perspective that makes sense, but there's also a concern that you end up with a segregated P-12 model rather than developing a learning continuum," Mr Abbey says.

    "There are some examples of good practice, like middle school work, which often involves primary and secondary teachers working together. But no school yet has been able to take on the broad, big package of P-12 schooling and what a unified curriculum would look like."

    "The review, The P-12 Education Research Project, examined the curriculum and organisation of 50 government, Catholic and independent P-12 schools statewide last year. Its findings were sent to the Education Minister, Bronwyn Pike, in September.

    "The Government has asked the Country Education Project to establish a committee of members from all school sectors to investigate how the review's recommendations could be implemented."

    http://cep.org.au/

    Learning Curve

    What the review recommended:

    • Teacher training courses should be changed to focus on three learning stages: prep-4, years 5-9 and years 10-12.
    • All teacher trainees should be trained in at least two of the three stages and be prepared to teach in at least two of the stages in schools.
    • Teacher unions, the Victorian Institute of Teaching and employers from each sector should create one industrial award for all teachers in P-12 schools.
    • P-12 schools and education authorities need to establish a system to encourage and support curriculum planning across the prep-12 spectrum.
    • P-12 schools should establish a network to share best practice in teaching and curriculum innovation.

    Source: The P-12 Education Research Project.
    
    From The Age at link
    
    

    • Chasing down infinity
      
      One of our favourite quotes comes from the writer Oliver Goldsmith: "Wherever the doctrines of infinity enter into philosophy, knowledge ceases, and we talk at random". And it seems to be true. Infinity inspires all manner of fear and confusion and nonsense. Can anything worthwhile be said at all?
      
      
    
    
    • An ear to the classroom door
      

    Dear Ms Gillard,

    I realise your hectic schedule doesn't allow for many school excursions. So I am asking you to come on a short virtual tour with me. So much education research must pass your desk, too many models - Swedish, Scottish, American, English etc - so I am not going to burden you with statistics. Well, only a very few. Instead, why don't we walk, drive, listen to a couple of kids, think, meet some teachers, have coffee and talk school.
    
    

    • Warning: learning can kill
      by Carl Zimmer, New York Times
      

      'Why are humans so smart?" is a question that fascinates scientists. Tadeusz Kawecki, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, likes to turn around the question.

      "If it's so great to be smart," Dr Kawecki asks, "why have most animals remained dumb?"

      "Dr Kawecki and like-minded scientists are trying to figure out why animals learn and why some have evolved to be better at learning than others. One reason for the difference, their research finds, is that being smart can be bad for an animal's health."

      
      
      
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • A mature approach to teaching
    
    Why shouldn't older people with life skills be encouraged to teach? The [NSW] National Party leader, Andrew Stoner, thinks they should.
    
    "... We must reduce the barriers to mature-age workers joining the teaching profession. For NSW Education Week, the Liberal-Nationals have put forward two innovative suggestions in a discussion paper.

    "First, the education system needs to recognise non-education-based work experience in determining remuneration.

    "For example, a mathematician with 15 years' industry experience should not start as a graduate teacher. There needs to be recognition of life experience.

    "Secondly, we have suggested the creation of a new pathways program that would enable lateral entry into the profession. Select students would be able to study a Diploma of Education while earning a salary..."
    
    The full discussion paper will be posted at this link
    
    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

  • Youngsters tough critics, says award-winning author (25 May)
    
    Literature for children and young people is just as challenging to write as adult fiction and the critics are just as tough, says award-winning author James Roy.
    
    
    

  • Elite school students get more special help in HSC
    
    Scores of elite private schools in NSW have won "special consideration" for their HSC students facing the gruelling exams, raising questions of whether they are gaining an unfair advantage.
    
    
    
  • New selective classes for city's west, regions
    
    Western Sydney and regional NSW will be first in line for 600 new selective high school places. The State Government wants selective classes at 14 comprehensive schools including Parramatta High, Blacktown Girls and Boys high schools, Wyong High, Grafton High and Armidale High.
    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    Literature opens the door to compassion in our brief lives
    by Junot Diaz
    
    "Let us give thanks to librarians. When I was young and knuckleheaded, fighting against being poor, against being brown, against being an immigrant, against being rejected by my father, it was a librarian assigned to a tiny precinct in Central New Jersey who took the time out of her work and with care and arid enthusiasm introduced me to the wonder of books and in the process, I would argue, saved my life..."
    
    Junot Diaz teaches creative writing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao. This is an edited transcript of the closing address he gave yesterday at the Sydney Writers' Festival.
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • No merit in priority staffing

      "Ned Manning (Letters, May 24-25) supports a centralised staffing system in which teachers gain priority transfers to the area of their choice after working in less favourable locations. Many people would be unaware that much of teacher staffing in NSW is still based on a priority system rather than merit selection. So permanent teachers - regardless of merit - can be appointed over a temporary or casual teacher. Staff coming out of head or district offices can be appointed to schools regardless of merit and these anomalies will still be retained. It is up to the Government and the Teachers Federation to come up with a system that supports hard-to-staff schools and does away with a system that in many cases does not provide the best person for the job."

      Sue Daniels, Hunters Hill
      
      
      

• The Times
  
  
  • Schools in revolt over under-5s curriculum
    by Alexandra Frean, Education Editor
    
    "A powerful coalition of England’s leading independent schools is demanding that the Government scale back its new national curriculum for the under-fives, claiming that it violates parents’ human rights by denying them the freedom to choose how they educate their children.

    "The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which represents 1,280 fee-paying schools educating more than 500,000 children, has written a blistering letter to Beverley Hughes, the Children’s Minister, complaining that the new curriculum will mean that the education of under-fives is subject to greater government interference than that of any other age group.

    "A leaked copy of the letter, seen by The Times, says that the curriculum, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, will compromise its member schools’ independence. “This clumsy intrusion into the early years’ curriculum of independent schools is both unjustified and unnecessary. More importantly, this interference conflicts with the rights of parents to privacy in their home life, which includes the freedom to choose how they educate their children and to educate them free from the control of the state,” the letter states.

    "The letter, copied to the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, also complains that the framework is likely to hold back children’s progress and to lower standards. George Marsh, who is headmaster of Dulwich College Preparatory School in South London and chairman of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, said he was concerned that the framework might eventually herald greater interference in the curriculum for older children..."
    
    Full story in The Times at link
    
    
    

• The Washington Post
  
  
  • Teachers' Pay Raises
    
    A 4.4 per cent pay rise brings Washington, D.C. starting teachers' salary up to US$ 42,369 [A$ 44,063].

Tuesday 27 May

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Teachers offered $17 to clean up classrooms (page 5)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "The depth of WA's labour supply crisis has been highlighted by the revelation the education department is so desperate for cleaners it is offering teachers $17 an hour to stay behind after class to clean two schools in Karratha.

    "The Department of Education and Training confirmed yesterday that teachers at Karratha Senior High School have been asked to help out by cleaning classrooms, emptying rubbish bins, wiping desks, vacuuming and washing floors.

    "A Karratha branch of the State School Teachers Union said a similar request had been made at Karratha Primary School.

    "The union branch said teachers at both schools had been cleaning without pay when required for years. Sometimes students were asked to step in when cleaners were unavailable, the union claimed.

    "Union members at the high school have refused the request and decided they will no longer clean their classrooms.

    "In a letter sent to Education Minister Mark McGowan, union members said they were concerned that the filthy state of the school was jeopardising the health of students and staff.

    "Some rooms are left unclean with bins overflowing for well over a week," the letter states. "Some areas of the school, including the school gym receive cleaning once or twice a term."

    "The branch said the school now had just one cleaner trying to keep up with a school containing more than 650 students and about 50 teachers, when it required at least four.

    "We feel now that students in our care will suffer an accident or illness directly related to the cleanliness of these areas," the letter said.

    "SSTU president Anne Gisborne said the Government had to find a solution because cleaning was not with teachers' job descriptions.

    "As it is they're struggling to keep ahead of things with their workload and to expect teachers to turn around and undertake to clean the buildings in which they work is totally inappropriate," she said.

    "Health and wellbeing of teachers and students in the school may be at risk and that will not be satisfactory to the school community."

    "The department's acting executive director of infrastructure, Mal Parr, said like all businesses in the Pilbara schools in Karratha were having trouble finding and employing cleaners.

    "While the Department of Education and Training would prefer to employ permanent cleaning staff, it is investigating the use of contract cleaners for Karratha schools on a short-term basis," he said. "These cleaners are expected to be in place within the next couple of days."

    "In late 2006, the department paid more than $100,000 to fly four cleaners from Perth to Karratha to clean the high school for a month because it could not find any locals to do the job."

    From The West Australian
    
    Similar story on ABC News
    
    The full ECU Report [2.5 MB .pdf]
    
    

    • What Anne Gisborne should have said:
      
      "It is an absolute insult that this government would even consider offering trained professionals well below award rates to clean their own classrooms. If this unhealthy and unsafe situation is not immediately remedied, I will be advising that our members walk off the site indefinitely on full pay. It is the responsibility of every employer to provide a safe and hygenic environment for their employees." [Marko Vojkovic on the PLATO Forum]
      
      
      
      

  • Disillusioned police and teachers looking at other jobs: survey (page 6)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "A third of police and a quarter of teachers are actively looking for jobs outside their profession because they are so disillusioned with their work, a new study has found.

    "The Edith Cowan University wellbeing of the professions survey, which canvassed more than 21,000 police, nurses and teachers last year, will reveal today that 34 per cent of police and 24 per cent of teachers are looking for new jobs.

    "This was a big increase on a similar survey in 2005, in which 20 per cent of police and 15 per cent of teachers were actively seeking other employment.

    "In 2005, 78 per cent of teachers and 73 per cents of police said they often thought about quitting, planned to look for another job in 12 months or were actively looking for one. Last year, that had dropped to 66 per cent of teachers and 55 per cent of police.

    "The study found most police officers, nurses and teachers regarded their professions as having little status or prestige and few believed that parents would back their child's decision to enter those professions.

    "In the latest survey, half the police, nurses and teachers reported feeling emotionally drained, had difficulty sleeping and often felt reluctant to meet the demands of the working day.

    "Nurses and teachers reported a stronger sense of making a difference in other people's lives than police.

    "ECU researcher Brian English said even though police, nurses and teachers were strongly motivated, they were concerned about work pressure, stress, work-life balance and pay.

    "The issues that seem to be emerging, particularly for police and teachers, are around whether we can assume any more that people are going to continue to go into these professions as jobs," he said.

    "Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said though many officers said they were thinking about quitting, very few were leaving.

    "The resignation rate had halved from 33 in January to 16 in April and applications were at a two-year high.

    "He said offenders were more violent than they used to be but police were getting more support.

    "Police Union president Mike Dean said police were frustrated at wages, conditions, the courts and lack of public respect.

    "State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne was concerned that little had been done after the 2005 survey, with employers taking advantage of teachers' willingness to sacrifice themselves for their students.

    "Department of Education and Training director-general Sharyn O'Neill was pleased that many rating had remained positive during a challenging time for teaching.

    "Health Department acting chief nurse Ruth Letts said it was clear that many nurses were feeling workload pressure. She was pleased that many felt positive about personal accomplishment and job image."

    From The West Australian
    

    Similar story on ABC News
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Editorial
    Suddenly business cares about teaching
    
    "At the recent 2020 Summit, the lavishly remunerated head of Macquarie Bank, Allan Moss, famously declared himself astonished at the low salaries paid to teachers. Now the Business Council of Australia (BCA) has called for salaries of the best teachers, stuck at about $70,000, to be lifted above $100,000. It sounds fine - but unfortunately it has about it some of Mr Moss's vague otherworldliness. As John Della Bosca's spokesman said bluntly: the council preaches lower taxes, then floats an idea that will cost NSW billions a year.

    "Certainly good teachers should be paid more - and for all the reasons the Business Council sets out. Good teachers are vital to a good education system, because they are instrumental in improving the performance of students. The education system in turn is central to a modern economy. Some people are attracted to teaching through altruism, not salary - but not enough to supply quality teachers in sufficient numbers. Altruism does not by itself make a good teacher and in any case it is profoundly unjust for a society to try to obtain good teachers on the cheap by exploiting individuals' altruism. Our society has been doing just that for some time now. The result: alongside the dedicated and the talented are other teachers on the same low salary for whom the profession was a last resort, and who are merely going through the motions to stay on the payroll. How to reward the former and discourage the latter? Step one: pay the best teachers more. Step two: reorganise the pay structure to encourage the best students into teaching, and the best teachers to move up the ladder. [emphasis added] As the BCA - not a body usually associated with tax-and-spend policies - acknowledges, this will be expensive: about $4 billion for the whole country. The council also decries the over-bureaucratised administration of state education systems - then proposes a new level of bureaucracy, in the form of an accrediting body to certify the two superior grades of teacher who will earn more. Both propositions may have parents and taxpayers scratching their heads.

    "The main obstacle to this well-intended but patchy proposal will probably come from the teachers' union. The bodies which have opposed the Howard government's performance-based pay ideas and the Iemma Government's proposals for school-based staff selection, not to mention the idea of transparent performance-based ranking of schools, will not take kindly to the BCA's super-teachers - unless it means a pay rise all round. And that is out of the question." [emphasis added]

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
    
  • Schools escape rort check
    by Gerard Noonan and Anna Patty
    
    "The Federal Government has been forced to admit it checks only a tiny percentage of independent schools for exploition [sic] of its controversial $12 billion school funding system, despite evidence it is being rorted.

    In response to a Herald freedom of information inquiry, the Education Department said it audited only 2 per cent of the nation's 2200 private schools each year - just over 40 schools - to check for fraudulent enrolment claims.

    The issue came to light recently after the Herald revealed that The Lakeside Christian College secondary college in Tweed Heads had claimed double its number of students to earn extra education funding from the state and federal governments..."

    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Teaching options

      "I am a new teaching graduate. At least half of my fellow graduates were mature-age students, with partners and children settled in Sydney. The nature of my husband's job makes it impossible for us to move to the country. If I was 21 and had no commitments, I would not hesitate to do so, as Ned Manning did (Letters, May 24-25). But that is not an option for me, or many of my fellow new teachers. Do I not deserve to even apply for a full-time permanent position in Sydney because I started teaching at 33?"

      Belinda Daley Neutral Bay
      
      

    • Education systems are failing our boys and young men
      
      "This is Education Week - a time to reflect on the successes and failures of the education system. One of its failures that rarely appears in the media is the way schools and universities are failing our boys and young men.

      "During the 1960s and '70s, research identified that girls were not equally represented in retention rates to year 12 and were less likely to go to university. The social roles of women had restricted their opportunities to participate in the public sphere. This inequity led to initiatives by the federal government and state education departments to ensure that girls' needs were met, culminating in the National Policy for the Education of Girls in Australian Schools in 1987.

      "Soon there was proof of success. By 1989 slightly more females (49.6 per cent) than males (48.3 per cent) were continuing to tertiary study. By 1990 there was a substantial increase in all students staying at school until year 12, with a majority being girls. In 1992, retention rates were 10 per cent higher for girls (82 per cent) than boys (72 per cent).

      "However, there was a developing concern that these gains for girls were not the result of integrating the differing needs of boys and girls to the benefit of both, but had come about through neglecting boys' needs.

      "In 1994, the NSW Government Advisory Committee on Education, Training and Tourism commissioned an inquiry into boys' education under Stephen O'Doherty. His report identified a range of reasons for concern and suggested ways to improve educational outcomes for boys. However, it was subjected to sustained attack from influential policy makers. Sue Walpole, then federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, argued that attention to boys should be less focused on measurable disadvantages, and more concerned with "correcting" the poor behaviour of males.

      "Her attempt to divert attention from concerns for boys to concerns about boys seems to have been successful. By 2002 the Australian Council for Educational Research listed continuing deterioration of outcomes for boys in education and other social arenas linked to school experiences, including poor progress in literacy, higher drop-out rates and discipline problems.

      "The gender gap between boys and girls for participation in year 12 and higher education has continued to widen. Between 1993 and 1999, the proportion of female enrolments at university increased from 53.3 per cent to 55.2 per cent, while male enrolments decreased from 46.7 per cent to 44.8 per cent. Almost 50 per cent more females than males graduated from Australia's universities in 2006.

      "Given that the academic outcomes for girls were turned around in less than 10 years, it is worrying that 15 years after the first report on boys' education, the situation for boys is deteriorating. This suggests that efforts to improve educational outcomes for boys to date have been either misguided or poorly implemented.

      "It is high time we start to fix the education systems that are failing our boys and young men so badly."

      Greg Andresen, Men's Health Australia, Bondi Junction
      Michael Woods, University of Western Sydney
      
      

    • Schools doing what's best for their students

      "Why are "elite" private schools being criticised for getting their students
      a fair go ("Elite get most perks in HSC", May 26)? Surely it's a good thing when a school identifies that students need extra support. The Board of Studies makes the decision to allow dispensations for HSC exams based on analysis of the facts by professionals. Maybe the real question is why government schools aren't doing a better job in identifying their students' needs."

      Adrian Rees, Strathfield
      
      

    • "Given that the criteria for special provisions for students with special needs in the HSC are well known, publicly available and assessed by a committee independent of any school, if there are worthy students who are not given these provisions, one has to ask whether their principals are failing them."

      Jenny Allum, Head of School, SCEGGS Darlinghurst
      
      

    • "The process of applying for special consideration is time-consuming for schools and students, and the cost of medical assessments and reports by specialist doctors, psychologists and occupational therapists is prohibitive. No wonder special-needs students in many schools are failing to be identified and fall through the cracks."

      Inge Close, Fairlight

      
      
      
• The Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    Paying our teachers
    
    Business wants to lift the status of the profession
    
    "When big business calls for a substantial pay rise for teachers so the profession's status can be raised, we are inclined to think there must be a good reason. The Business Council of Australia wants to encourage bright students to take up teaching so standards can be improved and schools and universities can deliver a better and more productive potential employee. That's all well and good: the economy needs a skilled and well-educated workforce.

    "An assumption behind the BCA's policy paper is that good teachers don't have sufficient financial incentive to stay on the job when they reach the top of the pay-scale, which happens after only eight years. If they quit to find better remuneration elsewhere, it's a net loss to the school system. The paper also assumes that talented students are not being attracted to teaching because of relatively poor salaries: another loss. The question that needs to be asked is whether doubling the top pay level from $70,000 to $130,000 is going too far.

    "An argument in support of the BCA's idea is that if society pays peanuts to those charged with educating our children, we will get candidates who have low motivation, little talent and not much interest in nurturing inquiring minds. Merit-based pay works for teachers and students. It attracts bright students into the profession and it gives teachers the incentive to work more effectively to lift student standards. There is plenty of evidence to demonstrate this works. If we can get better teachers by paying them on their merits, that would be a net gain."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    

  • Academic condemns Aboriginal bureaucrats
    
    Tackling indigenous disadvantage was being hindered because tens of thousands of people employed in the "Aboriginal industry" were simply collecting their salary and serving out time instead of tackling the hard issues, according to a leading Aboriginal academic.
    
    
    
    

• The Times
  
  
  • Schools to be graded by number of pupils going on to university
    
    Schools would be assessed on how many students they send to university under proposals being put to an influential body set up by the Prime Minister. University entry data could be used to create rankings of schools according to the number of their pupils who reach higher education.
    
    
    
    
• The Daily Mail
  
  
  • Now pupils can take an A-level in being a teenager under new exam board plans (26 May)
    by Laura Roberts
    
    "For anyone who spent two years poring over the intricacies of the War of the Spanish Succession to scrape an A-level in foreign history, it may be best to look away now.

    "You might have felt duty bound in those days to ration the time you spent shopping, listening to pop music or discussing dates.

    "But there is no such problem for today's teenagers...because they can get a qualification in it.

    "As part of a controversial A-level in popular culture, pupils will learn about the tradition of kissing in cinemas and ponder such questions as "is skateboarding better than polo?".

    "The qualification, being offered by the country's biggest exam board from September, also entails a study of celebrity body images and allows pupils to write about clothes and hairstyles.

    "One assignment requires them to "explore the relationships between cinema-going and dating" with the aid of source material like The Drifters hit Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies.

    "Another asks students to describe the cultural significance of their bedrooms and friends.

    "The A-level in "communication and culture" is billed by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance as "excellent preparation" for higher study.

    "The course spec insists the "everyday is worthy of study" but critics are concerned it will lack academic rigour.

    "They also warn it could help schools maintain strong league table positions while sidelining disciplines such as history and English literature.

    "Coursework topics for study in 2008/09 include "retail therapy".

    "Students can opt to compile a project titled "explore the meanings of shopping', where they will have "clear opportunities to engage with primary sources" - like "shopping mall food halls".

    "Meanwhile pupils opting for "popular music as cultural communication" can investigate sources such as "CD recordings".

    "Further areas of study include the cult of celebrity, body modification, forms of communicating including texting, computer games, graffiti and street art.

    "Students will be encouraged to explain the difference between "high" and "popular" culture while tackling the poser "Is skateboarding better than polo?"

    "And they will also be invited to discuss why their mobiles or iPods are "important" to them.

    "Critics condemned many of the topics covered as unsuitable for A-level study.

    "Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "Many parents and employers will consider this a waste of school time and expect an A-level covering 'culture' to concentrate on great literature, art or music."

    "The A-level replaces AQA's A-level in communication studies, which features on lists held by some universities of subjects considered poor preparation for degree courses.

    "An AQA spokesman said the syllabus had been approved by the exams watchdog Ofqual.

    "Communication and culture is a dynamic area of study with a strong contemporary orientation," she said.

    '"A central theme of the specification is an exploration of the meanings and practices of everyday life."

    From The Daily Mail at link
    
    
    
    
• American Educator [American Federation of Teachers], Summer 2007 issue
  
  
  • Uncovering Academic Success
    by Karin Chenoweth
    
    "Can it be done? Can schools help all children learn to high levels, even poor children who typically enter school far behind their more privileged peers? Is it even possible?
    
    " As a longtime education reporter and columnist, I knew the answer was yes, but I knew it as an article of faith rather than actual knowledge. I had never actually seen such a school. I had seen glimmers of hope in the fifth-grade classroom of Linda Eberhart, where African-American boys and girls from a very poor section of Baltimore met state math standards at higher rates than any other school in the state. I had seen hope in the extraordinary kindergarten class of Lorraine Gandy, who could boast without fear of contradiction that in 30 years she had taught just about every one of her students to read. I had also seen hope in a couple of schools that were committed to educating every child. But a whole school where the average poor child and child of color could walk in from the neighborhood and be pretty sure he or she would learn to read and do math and otherwise succeed academically? That I had never seen..."
    
    Full story in The American Educator at link
    
    
    
    
• The Age
  
  
  • Penalty ruled out for uni lecturer
    by Cameron Houston
    
    "A Melbourne University investigation into the conduct of senior lecturer Paul Mees has ruled out disciplinary action against the outspoken academic after he branded the authors of a report on privatisation "liars and frauds".

    "Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis said some of the "procedural grounds of appeal" had been upheld on the basis that Dr Mees had resigned from his position as transport planning lecturer and further steps would be required to resolve the matter.

    "Last night, Dr Mees said he intended to proceed with legal action against the university over breach of his employment contract that protects his right to free speech."

    From The Age at link

Wednesday 28 May

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Raise uni entry mark to improve quality: teachers (page 4)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "WA teachers believe it is too easy to enter tertiary teacher training courses, resulting in a decline in the quality of graduates, according to their professional registration body.

    "Brian Lindberg, who chairs the WA College of Teaching, said many teachers would back a call by the Business Council of Australia to raise entrance requirements to study education at some tertiary institutions.

    "Certainly the profession believes that the standards for entry are very, very low," he said "There is a major concern in the profession that we are not attracting highly academic students into teaching. The quality of teaching may decline. "

    "But he said State and Territory teacher registration authorities were working with universities to ensure they turned out well qualified graduates.

    "Mr Lindberg also said .teaching salaries were too low, but refused to say by how much.

    "It's extremely difficult to attract people into the profession and one of the reasons people are leaving is because of the salary," he said

    "In a report released on Monday, the BCA said there was a need to overhaul the system governing university courses for teachers because of concerns that entrance scores were too low. It said the current practice of allowing universities to enrol students to fill course quotas, regardless of academic ability, needed review.

    "The report also recommended paying top teachers up to $130,000 a year in a bid to attract quality people into the profession and the introduction of a national certification system to recognise excellence.

    "Universities have denied that entry requirements for education courses are too low. The minimum tertiary entrance rank required to enter teaching varies from 65 at Edith Cowan University to 80 at the University of WA.

    "However, UWA is considering a new five-year primary school teaching qualification next year in a bid to lift teacher quality.

    "UWA education dean Bill Louden said the university now turns out only secondary teaching graduates but it was looking at offering a masters degree in primary school teaching following a three-year arts degree. The program would have a strong clinical focus on how to help children who had difficulty with reading and maths.
    
    "We hope to establish this as a prestigious program and a program that will help students have the choice of all the jobs at the end," he said "So I'm thinking we might attract some people to teaching who wouldn't otherwise choose teaching."

    "But ECU and Murdoch chiefs said just lifting entry requirements would not guarantee an improvement in teacher quality.

    "Murdoch deputy vice-chancellor Gary Martin said he believed that Murdoch's 2008 TER of 70 for education was a strong foundation for prospective teachers.

    "ECU education head Greg Robson said the TER was not the best predictor of teaching ability, but he did not believe students with a rank below 65 would be successful.

    "Curtin University education head Len Sparrow said intelligent students were more able to grasp complex educational ideas.

    "So if entrance scores dropped too low it would be a problem," he said."

    From The West Australian
    
    

    
    
  • Local businesses strike deal to sponsor primary schools (page 4)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "Primary schools will be urged to form closer ties with local businesses under a new partnership agreement to be announced today between WAs peak employer group and primary school principals.

    "The WA Primary Principals Association will reveal its business-school partnership program with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at its annual conference, which starts today.

    "WAPPA president Stephen Breen said more schools and businesses would be encouraged to join forces for their mutual benefit from next year.

    "But there would be strict protocols that would prohibit businesses such as fast food outlets sponsoring schools.

    "Sponsorship could involve buying football jumpers, trees for the school grounds or reading books for students.

    "This is a formal partnership between schools and businesses and it might be the corner store or it might be any members of CCI, of which there are 5000," he said.

    "They haven't got any naming rights. There's not going to be any posters of McDonald's or anything like that."

    "Advantages for businesses include improving revenue and building customer loyalty. Mr Breen denied that amounted to free advertising.

    "We're comfortable if it's mutually agreeable between the school community and the business," he said. "We're doing it to get the community into schools and get schools into the community."

    "Mr Breen said research had shown engaging business improved students' motivation and gave busy parents a chance to get involved in their children's school life through their workplace.

    "Some schools had already formed business partnerships but the agreement with the CCI would formalise the process.

    "WA Council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry offered broad support to the initiative.

    "There are big businesses that do put into schools and we don't discourage that because at the end of the day the businesses are the winners of the educated child," he said.

    "So don't think it's unreasonable for some commercial businesses to get involved with supporting education.

    "But he was concerned that some schools would attract businesses wanting to form partnerships and others would not, which could result in inequality.

    "So then you get a have and a have-not situation," he said."

    From The West Australian
    
    Similar story on ABC News
    
    

    
    
  • Editorial
    Dirty Schools will not ease teachers' disillusionment (page 20)

    "Any chance of increasing the number of teachers in WA looks bleaker after the release of a report which says that on-quarter are actively looking for another job. A third of the state's police are doing likewise. Both groups cite disillusionment with their work.

    "In the case of teachers, that will not be helped by a shortage of school cleaners. So acute is the problem that in Karratha the Department of Education and Training is offering teachers $17 an hour to clean classrooms themselves.

    "Teachers have told Education Minister Mark McGowan they are concerned that children's health will be put at risk by classrooms left uncleaned - a situation which is hardly likely to ease their disillusionment."

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • School cleaner shortage 'due to ban on contractors' (page 4)

    "A decision to offer teachers $17 an hour to clean their own classrooms in Karratha schools was a result of a State Government decision not to employ contract cleaners, the Opposition said yesterday.

    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the decision three years ago not to extend contracts for private cleaners had been made on political grounds.

    "The end result being, if teachers In Karratha want clean classrooms and toilets, they have to do the job themselves," he said. "Is it any wonder the Government is having difficulty getting teachers to go to the country when they are being asked to moonlight as cleaners as well as deal with the enormous pressures of the profession?"

    "The West Australian revealed yesterday that the Department of Education and Training was so desperate for cleaners in Karratha it was offering teachers $17 an hour to clean their schools.
    Karratha high school teachers refused the payment and decided they would no longer clean classrooms. But they were concerned that the filthy state of their school risked the health of students and teachers.

    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said yesterday every industry was experiencing the effects of the labour shortage.

    "He said teachers were offered extra money to clean and declined.

    "The department said it was unaware of other schools short of cleaners. Contract cleaners had been hired to clean the Karratha school until the end of term."

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

• ABC News
  
  
  • Behaviour centres for troubled primary school students to be set up
    
    "The State Government has announced the establishment of five new behaviour management centres to deal with 'troublesome' primary school students.

    "More than 300 disruptive primary school students will be placed in the new behaviour centres at Peel, Canning, Fremantle, Swan and West Coast education districts from July.

    "The Government announced the development of a similar plan aimed at difficult high school students earlier this year.

    "The Education Minister, Mark Mc Gowan, says the new centres will replace an existing programme and will receive an additional $2 million a year in funding.

    "He says the Government is not unfairly targeting young children.

    "But at the same time I have an obligation to the broader school population to make sure that schools are harmonious environments, that classrooms are harmonious environments where students can learn," he said.

    Insufficient says opposition

    "The Opposition's Education spokesman, Peter Collier, says having a handful of behaviour management centres across the metropolitan area is not good enough.

    "He says all public schools should have specialist teams to deal with difficult students.

    "What the government needs to do is to have a massive injection of funds to make sure each school is properly resourced," he said.

    "We need effective behaviour management strategies and pastoral care facilities in every one of our public schools." [emphasis added]
    
    From ABC News at link
    
    
    

  • Govt urged to do more on sex education for school children
    
    "The Western Australia Government is being urged to ensure school students are educated about the legal age of sexual consent.

    "The calls come after a 21-year-old man avoided a jail term for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

    "Chief Justice Wayne Martin handed Mark John Marshall a 12-month community based order for having sex with the girl from Kununurra.

    "Marshall admitted he knew how old the girl was but said he was not aware it was against the law to have sex with a girl under 16.

    "WA Law Society spokesman Hylton Quail says schools should be educating students about the legal age of sexual consent.

    "Particularly in remote communities where people might not be aware of the age of consent," he said.

    "Shadow attorney-general Christian Porter agrees.

    "Girls under the age of 16, even if there is what can be construed in normal circumstances, and I put this in inverted commas - 'consent' cannot consent to these acts," he said.

    "Justice Martin has been presiding over a number of District Court cases involving men charged with child sex abuse in Kimberley Aboriginal communities."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Back to basics is best, says Julia Gillard
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Education Minister Julia Gillard has set out her belief in an old-fashioned style of school curriculum based on study of traditional disciplines.

    "In a speech last night to the Christian Schools Group in Canberra, Ms Gillard said studying disciplines such as English, history and maths provided the basis for understanding the world, overcoming social disadvantage and imparting values to students.

    "Ms Gillard, the Deputy Prime Minister, said she wanted students to have a grounding in narrative history so they could make sense of world events; read Shakespeare and modern literature to help them know themselves; and be capable of mental arithmetic.

    "Such an approach in education also gave students "some of the great liberal values that come from study", which was the other important role schools played beyond training a workforce.

    "One of the criticisms often made by educationalists is that, to help disadvantaged children, they are too often prepared to dumb down what is taught," she said.

    "In my view, dumbing down is the cruellest joke we can play on someone who has to battle against the odds to succeed." [emphasis added]

    "Ms Gillard said her life was far from a battle, but coming from an immigrant family from a coalmining village she benefited from studying demanding academic subjects such as English, maths, chemistry, physics and economics.

    "I am a passionate believer in the benefits of the rigorous study of traditional disciplines," she said.

    "Such studies provide the basis for understanding a rapidly changing world. But more than that, they are a civilising and individually uplifting force that requires no economic or social justification.

    "They foster creativity, inquiry, research skills and expression. And they play a big part in imparting values to our young people."

    "Ms Gillard said that, in teaching something as basic as literacy, she was "somewhat old-fashioned" and a strong supporter of a practical and rigorous approach.

    "I think the teaching of phonics, grammar and punctuation are an important part of the learning process," she said.

    "I am even more committed to making sure that what happens in classrooms across Australia is grounded in real evidence of success. Nowhere is this more important than in our effort to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

    "That clarity and rigour is something that we should aim to apply to the whole curriculum and underscores the importance of our national curriculum policy." [emphasis added]

    "Such study engendered values such as: honesty and intellectual courage; standing up for others; aspiration, ambition and humility; and respect for democracy, individual rights and difference.

    "These ideas would be broadly reflected in the new national goals for schooling, being rewritten by the commonwealth, states and territories, and the national curriculum.

    "Ms Gillard said schools were more than institutions for gaining qualifications for the economic good of the individual and the nation, but also had an important moral dimension.."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    Full text of Gillard's speech
    
    
    

  • The Higher Education Supplement [several articles, none justifying individual links]
    
    

  • Camden Council votes down Islamic school
    
    A plan to build an Islamic school on Sydney's southwestern outskirts was last night rejected by Camden Council, which insisted the decision had been made purely on planning grounds.
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    

    • Teachers need a free market
      
      "Unquestionably, in a free market, improved pay should increase the quality of teachers and the delivery of education services generally ("Double teacher pay: business’’, 26/5).

      "However, education is very largely the province of the states and the state school system operates nothing like a free market. True prices for any commodity or service can only be set through free market processes. Substantially increasing teacher salaries would be just as likely to encourage the hacks and time-servers to stay in the job longer, and the teachers unions would ensure that the extra taxpayer funding was not spent productively. The bad teachers would find it just as easy to qualify for the higher pay as the good ones. When the tide comes in, both the good and bad boats float to the same level."
      
      Peter Nugent, Bardon, Qld
      
      
      

  • Comment
    Logan's run leaves Carpenter impotent
    by Amanda O'Brien
    
    "What does it take to get sacked these days? It's no secret the concept of ministerial responsibility has been barely evident for years but the case of West Australian Energy Minister Fran Logan proves it actually no longer exists.

    "Logan's competence as Energy Minister was already seriously undermined by the revelation that he had presided over one of the biggest financial scandals since the dark days of WA Inc, the extraordinary losses of government-owned electricity generator Verve Energy. Its situation is so dire it needs a $1billion taxpayer-funded bailout to sort it out..."
    
    "Alan Carpenter has so far stood by him but the Premier's long-running attempt to portray himself as a white knight determined to clean up West Australian politics "without fear or favour" has been all but destroyed by his inaction over Logan. Carpenter's credibility is at stake..."
    
    "Perhaps the last laugh from Logan's jocular moment goes to Brian Burke, who has long felt the barbs of Carpenter's self-proclaimed quest to clean up the state. With Carpenter now impotent on the issue of standards, Burke's life should get a lot easier."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link

    
    

• Education Minister Mark McGowan Media Statements
  
  
  • Zero tolerance approach on bad behaviour extends to public primary schools
    
    More than 300 highly disruptive primary school students will be subject to intensive intervention and management each year, as part of the Carpenter Government’s zero tolerance approach to bad behaviour in State schools.

    Speaking at the WA Primary Principals’ Association Conference, Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan said the Government would establish five primary behaviour centres throughout the metropolitan area, to be operational from July.

    Mr McGowan said the new centres would be located in the Canning, Fremantle, Peel, Swan and West Coast education districts and provide an outreach program to country schools.

    They would build on the success of the secondary behaviour centres, which were established by the Government in June last year as part of a one-year trial project.

    “These centres, which will be fully staffed with psychologists and teachers specially trained in behaviour management, have been established to deal with those students that display persistently disruptive or aggressive behaviour,” he said.

    “They will replace the existing SPER centres and will receive an additional $2million a year in funding.

    “This brings the annual total for the Primary Behaviour Centres to $4million, effectively doubling the previous amount.”

    The Minister said schools were faced with an increasingly complex range of social issues which affected student behaviour and were beyond the realm of school control or influence.

    “It is not the role of teachers to act as parents,” he said.

    “Classroom teachers and students should not be expected to cope with severely disruptive behaviour.

    “This State Government views community safety as paramount and teachers deserve to work in an environment that is safe and conducive to learning.

    “At last year’s WAAPA Conference, I said I would not tolerate violent and aggressive behaviour in schools and that is why I have today announced another strategic initiative to tackle the issue.

    “Furthermore, the behaviour of these few students also adversely affects the progress of other students in the classroom, as well as their own academic and social development.

    “We know that the earlier we put effective programs in place for these students, the greater the chance of success.

    While the primary behaviour centres will focus on helping the students and teachers within the child’s classroom initially, in some circumstances it may be necessary to remove the student from the school.

    “In cases where the primary behaviour centre is too far away for a very young student, say a six-year-old, a different location may be chosen, such as the District Office or another nearby school,” Mr McGowan said.

    “However, the management of the student will always be undertaken by the expert staff from the behaviour centres.

    “Each student will have a full behaviour assessment and will be individually case managed.

    “It is essential that agencies like the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Department for Child Protection work with schools to support the most challenging children.

    “A State-wide advisory board will be set up to link all of these agencies.

    “A comprehensive evaluation will also be set up to ensure the services are meeting the needs of the students and their schools.”

    
    
    
  • Year Six the new assessment year for gifted and talented students

    Parents of gifted children no longer have to wait until their children are in Year Seven before applying for Gifted and Talented Education programs.

    Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan said from now on, children would be assessed in Year Six, giving parents more time to plan for their child’s secondary education.

    “Securing a place before a child starts Year Seven will give parents certainty,” Mr McGowan said.

    “These programs are competitive and parents want to know earlier, rather than later, that their child has a place for Year Eight.

    Parents of Year Six children are being urged to apply before August 1 to secure a place for their child in a Gifted and Talented Program in 2010.

    Gifted and Talented Education programs include academic talent, dance, drama, humanities, languages, maths, music, science and visual arts.

    “Parents can apply for their child to attend a selective school, Perth Modern School or John Curtin College of the Arts, or a secondary public school that offers a gifted and talented education program,” the Minister said.

    “Children can attend any program for which they’ve been accepted, regardless of where they live.”

    Applications can be made online at http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/gifttal or by phoning 9264 5513 to request an application form and information booklet.

    Mr McGowan said the Gifted and Talented Education program was an example of the high quality of education offered in Western Australian public schools, which aimed to meet the needs of all students.
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Ombudsman in Board of Studies inquiry (27 May)
    
    The NSW Ombudsman will investigate complaints against the NSW Board of Studies, which refused to release raw exam marks to more than 100 former students who banded together to lift the veil on its secret scaling process.
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    

    • Schools doing what's best for their students

      "Why are "elite" private schools being criticised for getting their students a fair go ("Elite get most perks in HSC", May 26)? Surely it's a good thing when a school identifies that students need extra support. The Board of Studies makes the decision to allow dispensations for HSC exams based on analysis of the facts by professionals. Maybe the real question is why government schools aren't doing a better job in identifying their students' needs."

      Adrian Rees, Strathfield
      
      

    • "Given that the criteria for special provisions for students with special needs in the HSC are well known, publicly available and assessed by a committee independent of any school, if there are worthy students who are not given these provisions, one has to ask whether their principals are failing them."

      Jenny Allum, Head of School, SCEGGS Darlinghurst
      
      

    • "The process of applying for special consideration is time-consuming for schools and students, and the cost of medical assessments and reports by specialist doctors, psychologists and occupational therapists is prohibitive. No wonder special-needs students in many schools are failing to be identified and fall through the cracks."

      Inge Close, Fairlight
      
      

    • Teaching options

      "I am a new teaching graduate. At least half of my fellow graduates were mature-age students, with partners and children settled in Sydney. The nature of my husband's job makes it impossible for us to move to the country. If I was 21 and had no commitments, I would not hesitate to do so, as Ned Manning did (Letters, May 24-25). But that is not an option for me, or many of my fellow new teachers. Do I not deserve to even apply for a full-time permanent position in Sydney because I started teaching at 33?"
      
      Belinda Daley, Neutral Bay
      
      

    • Selective logic

      "As selective classes and schools are so efficacious, why don't we provide them for all kids." ("New selective classes for city's west, regions", May 26)?
      
      Philip Gerber, Doonside

 

Thursday 29 May

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Just two heed call for 1000 teachers (page 10)
    by Kate Campbell

    “The State Government’s highly flaunted bid to lure up to 1000 retired teachers back to the workforce to plug the shortage crisis has failed miserably since it was introduced 10 months ago, with just two teachers taking up the offer.

    “In a Budget estimates hearing yesterday, Education Department director-general Sharyn O’Neill revealed the embarrassing figure, which the Opposition described as “shocking” and testament to the growing culture of anger and disenchantment.

    “Ms O’Neill told Parliament that 369 packages had been sent out to recently retired teachers and the department had received 94 inquiries. She said more expressions of interest were being pursued.

    “In July last year, Education Minister Mark McGowan unveiled the desperate initiative to offer retired teachers salaries of up to $90,000, flexible work arrangements, regional and remote bonuses and superannuation incentives to return to the classroom, particularly in hard-to-staff schools. He was confident it would be a success.

    “Indicating how much the initiative has flat-lined, no teachers have accepted the deal in the past nine months.

    “Mr McGowan refused to admit defeat yesterday. “I am aware that some initiatives prove to be more successful than others, however I make no apologies for investigating every avenue to make sure schools are staffed across the State,” he said.

    “Mr McGowan said “initiatives take time to work”.

    “Shadow education minister Peter Collier, who supported the idea in theory, said adding two out of thousands of recently retired teachers to a struggling workforce of about 22,000 was a joke.

    “Teachers are not just disillusioned, they are angry so why on earth would a recently retired teacher come back to experience the same old, same old,” Mr Collier said. “I think the Government has seriously misread the intensity of anger and lack of morale in our teaching fraternity and until that changes they can offer all the incentives they can, but it’s not going to work.”

    “State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said the Government had to tackle pay and workload issues before the profession could begin to be an attractive option for departed teachers.

    “She said about 2000 teachers were retiring each year.

    “If I had retired ... I would look and think more than twice before I thought about coming back to rescue the department. But the reality is these are the people they need to be getting back in,” Ms Gisborne said.

    “It’s almost too scary to contemplate what will happen if they can’t. You will look at bigger class sizes, more workload, non-qualified teachers teaching, special programs like excursions and competitions being dropped.”

    “Parliament was also told yesterday recruitment campaign worth $3.8 million have netted 92 interstate and overseas teachers to WA, with another 28 starting in July. The teacher shortage as of last week was 30.”

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • Special centres for disruptive primary pupils (page 43)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    “Violent and abusive children who disrupt their primary school classes could be removed from their own school and sent to one of five new behaviour centres to be set up by the State Government.

    “Education Minister Mark McGowan said yesterday he would also double the amount of funding for managing badly behaved primary school students from $2 million to $4 million and would hire an extra four psychologists.

    “The new primary behaviour centres will deal with more than 300 students a year who display persistently disruptive or aggressive behaviour.

    “Mr McGowan said that from July they would replace the existing socio psychological educational resource (SPER) centres based at schools in Embleton, Secret Harbour, Hilton, Armadale and Duncraig.

    “The SPER centres currently provide psychologists and specially-trained teachers who go out to  schools to work with aggressive and disruptive children.

    “But the converted centres will also allow children to be withdrawn from their school.

    “An outreach program would be provided to country schools.

    “Mr McGowan said State schools had to be tough on had behaviour because teachers and other pupils should not be expected to cope with severely disruptive students.

    “The most violent and disruptive primary school students ... will be more intensively case-managed and there’s the opportunity now for these kids to be withdrawn from their primary school and looked after or managed and their behaviours modified,” he said.

    “It’s not about targeting or victimising those students – it’s about coming up with a new way of helping them and also helping the broader school community.”

    “Department of Education and Training senior psychologist Debra Moore said only a very few children would actually be withdrawn from their normal school.

    “Most of our work will be working with that child in their regular school,” she said.

    “Some children who were verbally and physically aggressive needed to be taught management skills to allow them to interact with other students in their regular school.

    “Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the initiative did not go far enough and that effective behaviour management and pastoral care was needed in every school.

    “The department set up three secondary behaviour centres a year ago.”

    From The West Australian

     

  • Letters to the Editor (page 23)

    • In short
      
      “I read with disbelief the plans for a business-school partnership program devised by the WA Primary Principals’ Association (report 28/5). I see a couple of problems with this scheme. First, the potential for some schools in lower socio-economic areas to be left with nothing is a very real risk. Despite the promises of strict protocols, the entire scheme is open to being inequitable. Second, anyone with a social conscience could be faced with sending their children to a school which is sponsored by a company that they feel has unacceptable work ethics or practices. Most importantly, this is just another easy way out for the Government."

      Lisa Thomas, Perth

      
      

• ABC News
  
  
  • Primary schools set to benefit from partnership with Chamber of Commerce and Industry
    
    

    "The WA Primary Principals Association says a new partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to benefit schools and businesses.

    "President, Stephen Breen, says his association will encourage more schools to forge formal relationships with local businesses.

    "He has used an insurance company that is sending its staff members to support students learning English as an example. [emphasis added]

    "Mr Breen says the children get the benefit of more resources, while the insurance workers enjoy the primary school environment.

    ""They are fun places, they are uplifting places," he said.

    "If you go into a pre-primary class, parents, adults absolutely love it."

    "The social capital for that insurance company: their bosses say by sending their staff to the primary school they come back better workers."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Scheme rewards top teachers
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The NSW Government yesterday unveiled its version of performance pay for teachers, which is based on a scheme to recognise the best in the profession.

    "From next month, teachers in any school in NSW can apply for accreditation at the levels of professional accomplishment and professional leadership, under a system developed by the NSW Institute of Teachers.

    "Education Minister John Della Bosca said the scheme was the most comprehensive in the nation, being the first to cover the whole profession across government and non-government schools. He said the scheme gave the Government and the teachers union a range of options for discussion in the negotiation of a new pay agreement.

    "A spokesman for Mr Della Bosca said the Government was prepared to pay more to teachers accredited under the scheme, if that was wanted by the profession. "We would be quite happy to include that in our discussions with the (Teachers Federation) over the next salary agreement," he said.

    "The scheme developed by the NSW Institute of Teachers is voluntary and requires teachers to submit evidence of exemplary practice over a sustained period.

    "A preliminary application fee of $60 will be charged and then application fees of $490 for accomplishment and $590 for leadership, which the institute argues ensures a serious candidacy. [emphasis added]

    "The teachers will have to provide referees from among their peers, principals, colleagues and junior teachers who have been under their supervision.

    "Applicants will be assessed by an independent and external observer visiting the school to watch the teacher at work. Student results will not form part of the assessment but teachers will be expected to demonstrate they track and compare student results to tailor their teaching.

    "The NSW announcement follows the release this week of a similar scheme by the Business Council of Australia, which argued that accomplished teachers should receive twice the salary of a starting teacher and leading teachers should get 2.5 times the starting salary.

    "Institute chief executive Tom Alegounarias said the key difference in the schemes was that the BCA plan, based on a report from the Australian Council for Educational Research and a US program, required examples of teaching practice rather than evidence of sustained high standards. "We looked at the US scheme and learned from it, but we thought it was weak and ends up being a judgment about the quality of the application rather than the expertise of the teacher," he said.

    "Mr Alegounarias said an essential part of the NSW scheme was the assessment by external observers who will visit the school over a period to assure themselves of consistency of teaching practices.

    "He said the advantage of the scheme beyond any agreement on extra pay was in schools seeking teachers accredited at this level, and the process highlighted for employers the strengths of individual teachers.

    "The NSW Teachers Federation in principle supports the idea of paying extra money to teachers who are accredited at higher levels, but said there were too many unanswered questions at this stage to support the institute's scheme.

    "Deputy president Bob Lipscombe said the employers, being the school systems, should pay the application fees, otherwise it amounted to a pay cut for teachers seeking accreditation at this level."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    

  • Business Council of Australia News Release
    
    
    • BCA Welcomes New South Wales Teacher Quality Plan But National Approach Needed
      
      The Business Council of Australia (BCA) today welcomed the announcement by the New South Wales Government of new arrangements to recognise and reward excellent teachers.

      BCA Chief Executive Katie Lahey said business supported the key principles on which the New South Wales plan is based.

      The plan has significant common ground with the approach to lifting the quality of teaching proposed by the BCA this week in its paper Teaching Talent: The Best Teachers For Australia's Classrooms.

      “While the adoption of this system by New South Wales is welcome, the BCA would urge for a national approach to recognising excellent teaching to be agreed by the Council of Australian Governments,” Ms Lahey said.

      “If we are to meet the future challenges facing Australia such as an ageing population and skills shortages, we will need to take a national approach to lifting the quality of teaching so all of our students have access to better teaching and learning opportunities.

      “We agree that the quality of teaching is the single most important influence on student learning and the overall quality of our school education system.

      “The best way to lift the quality of teaching is to introduce a new independent certification system that will allow the best classroom teachers to be recognised according to standards that reflect effective teaching.

      “The introduction of higher remuneration levels linked to the certification system will then provide the basis for a new career path for the profession.

      “Based on the introduction of voluntary certification arrangements, the BCA also advocates a comprehensive strategy to support teachers in continuing to learn and improve their teaching throughout their careers.

      “Importantly, these reforms will help the education sector to recruit the most talented and committed people into the teaching profession, and encourage them to continue to develop their teaching skills.

      “We note that the New South Wales Institute of Teaching has indicated there are some differences in the methods by which excellent teachers would be assessed against the relevant standards when the New South Wales and BCA proposals are compared. The BCA views these differences as matters of detail and not fundamental barriers to the implementation of new arrangements to recognise and reward excellent teachers.

      “Importantly, when it comes to the key principles, there is the basis of a common approach to recognising, rewarding and attracting high quality teachers.

      “It is vital that every young Australian should have the opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge that they will need to enter into a rewarding career and to participate in a meaningful way in the life of their community.

      “For this reason, we would like to see a national approach to recognising excellent teaching agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments. We recommend such an approach be based on the principles identified both by the New South Wales Government and by the BCA, together with the Australian Council for Educational Research,” Ms Lahey said.

      For further information contact:
      Scott Thompson, Manager, Media Relations, Business Council of Australia
      Tel:  (03) 8664 2664 / Mobile: 0403 241 128
      
      
      

  • Your Say Blog
    Scale pay to meet demand
    
    It is regularly argued that teacher pay in Australia is too low and that this is a disincentive to enter the profession. Yet by international standards, Australian teacher salaries are relatively high. Starting teacher salaries in Australia are in the top one-third of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and compare favourably with starting salaries in other professions in Australia, writes Jennifer Buckingham.

    "Teacher salaries are, however, quite compressed. It takes on average only 9 years for public school teachers to reach the top salary level and the top salary for classroom teachers is only 43 per cent higher than the starting salary. To earn more, teachers have only three options: leave the classroom, leave the sector or leave the profession. On this aspect of teacher’s compensation, Australia’s position is less favourable internationally, among the lowest one-third of countries for salary progression for senior teachers.

    "On this basis, it can be argued that the teacher salary scale needs to be extended. The Business Council of Australia’s proposal to significantly increase the top teacher salary to $130,000 is an audacious one.

    "Unfortunately, there is no obvious or simple relationship between teacher salaries, teacher quality and student performance. High performing countries such as Finland and Sweden have starting teacher salaries similar to Australia’s (close to average gross domestic product per capita) and both have top salaries lower than Australia’s. Obviously there is something other than pay at play in these countries.

    "There is some Australian research showing that increased salaries would attract people of higher ability into teaching, but this evidence is related to starting salary. Other international evidence on starting and average salary is mixed, and suggests that working conditions are more important.

    "One of the interesting aspects of the BCA’s proposal is that teachers achieve the top salary by merit. It is not automatic with years of service. The BCA’s criteria for merit does not include evidence of student learning, such as test scores. Teachers would become eligible for the top salary by undertaking professional learning such as masters degrees. This is interesting because it is hard to imagine successful business leaders running an organisation in this way, paying people who do courses more than those who make profits.

    "Again, there is scant evidence to support this approach. Research on teacher effectiveness has found that there is little relationship between student achievement and masters degrees in education. The strongest factor is the teachers’ verbal literacy and depth of subject content knowledge.

    "There is no doubt that salary is an important factor in attracting and retaining teachers. Most teachers do their job for love rather than money, but this principle can only go so far. Teachers have families and mortgages just like everyone else. All students should have good teachers and good teachers should be properly remunerated, and it is necessary to look beyond the status quo to find ways to do this.

    "Merit-based pay schemes have a chequered history. The reasons are numerous, but one is their failure to look beyond the public sector mentality of lock-step salary ladders. Adding another rung to the ladder does not significantly change the incentives for teachers and simply puts enormous strain on education budgets.

    "With regard to salary, flexibility is key. In Sweden, the salary schedule indicates only the base rate of pay. Higher rates are individually negotiated between teachers and employers. This is also how it works in the private school system in Australia, and indeed in the whole private sector, which is where the BCA should be seeking inspiration.

    "In the private sector salary is based on demand. We need to seriously consider this approach to address teacher shortages. For example, we need more qualified physics teachers so perhaps we need to start offering to pay them more to compete with the salaries and conditions available in other industries.

    "Higher salaries would come with higher expectations. Using physics as an example again, where there is a shortage of highly qualified physics teachers, they should be used in the most effective way.

    "Present staffing models put a highly qualified physics teacher in one lucky school, and an underqualified physics teacher in another. Options should be explored to maximise the use of excellent teachers, through innovative timetabling, technology and more use of allied staff. It may be that a high calibre physics teacher earns top dollar, but they should not be confined to one school.

    "While there remains debate about the preferable format for salary increases - by performance, by qualifications, or by skills demand - there is a growing consensus that salary differentiation is necessary. The difficulty with the BCA’s proposal is that it simply adds another layer to a stale cake."

    Jennifer Buckingham is a research fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies.

    From The Australian at link [post replies at that link, too]
    
    
    
    
  • Anti-racism scheme raised after Islamic school outrage
    by Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent
    
    "The Rudd Government has offered to run anti-racism projects in outer southwestern Sydney where locals stridently lobbied Camden Council to reject an application to build a 1200-student Islamic school.

    "Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson yesterday expressed alarm over anti-Islamic xenophobia in the area, saying that while the council may have rejected the development proposal on genuine planning grounds, some in the local community had displayed racism. "You've got a community there with very few Muslims in the immediate area. There's lack of knowledge, lack of interface connection and basic ignorance coming into it," Mr Ferguson said. "What happened out there does show ... we need to work with this council to erode this kind of bigotry in that community."

    "Camden Council unanimously rejected the proposal to build the 1200-student Islamic school on Tuesday night, at a meeting attended by 200 locals, some of whom hailed the decision as a victory against Islamic radicalism..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Nation 'immune' to indigenous horror stories
    
    The continuous reporting of stories about the despair and hopelessness in indigenous communities has bred an acceptance of failure by Aboriginal people.
    
    
    

  • Water bombs break through outback learning crisis
    by Victoria Laurie
    
    "You need a sense of humour and a reliable four-wheel-drive to teach science in the outback - and the young educators visiting bush schools across remote Western Australia clearly have both.
    
    

  
  Gabrielle Migliore of Scitech watches
  Reynald Kelly use a water balloon slingshot.
  Picture: Colin Murty © The Sydney Morning Herald

  "Lying in the dirt with a giant slingshot aimed to the sky, Reynald Kelly from Yandeyarra Remote Community School is learning a valuable lesson about angles and energy transference.

  "If his water-bomb missile takes its predicted trajectory, Reynald will hit the reluctant target a few metres away - his teacher.

  "Hands-on science lessons are being taken to more than 40 remote indigenous schools across the state, with the focus on Pilbara communities such as Yandeyarra, 145km south of Port Hedland, where mining jobs await Aboriginal students if they emerge from school with sufficient literacy and employment skills.

  "Elisa McGowan, who visited Yandeyarra as part of Perth-based Scitech's indigenous touring program, said: "We talk about how to make the missile go further - the relationship between angle and distance, and then we can graph the distances."

  "Responding to gloomy reports by the Prime Minister's Science, Education and Innovation Council, which indicated a lack of science teaching and resources in isolated schools, the federal Department of Education last year funded a $345,000-program to take basic science into the bush.

  "The whole idea is to teach more science, more effectively, and get kids excited," said Ms McGowan, an honours science graduate from the University of Western Australia.

  "She said students learned faster about electrical circuits if they assembled one and went fishing for metal objects with the magnetic current.

  "They really need that hands-on science approach if they are struggling with literacy," she said.

  "But teachers tell us it's hard to get materials for science experiments in places with only one shop, things as simple as balloons for water bombs."

  "Interactive science lessons, delivered intensively over two days, can cut through language barriers and hearing deficits - more than half of Yandeyarra's 40 enrolled students will have temporary or permanent hearing loss during their schooling.

  "Since May last year, Scitech education teams have taught 2300 students in remote schools, targeting kindergarten to Year 3 and Year 4 to mid-high school.

  "This month, the topic is Energy and Change - teaching basic laws of movement and energy.

  "We've taught primary school children about push-pull principles by referring to things they know, like broken-down old cars and how they need pushing along," Ms McGowan said.

  "The kids really identify because there's heaps of them in every community."

  "Early signs are of a small but significant spike in student attendance and science learning, according to Yandeyarra acting principal Kane Benson.

  "Labor's National Action Plan on Literacy and Numeracy, worth $577.4 million over four years, is helped by Scitech's approach, which includes inviting local parents and teachers' aides to help conduct experiments.

  "But getting Yandeyarra's children to school regularly remains a problem, Mr Benson said. "When the national literacy and numeracy tests were held recently, we had a lot of kids not turn up - only one Year 9 sat the tests."

  From The Australian at link
  
  
  

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Op Ed
    No more public v private debate
    by Julia Gillard
    
    "For too long in Australia debates about the quality of children's education have revolved around public versus private schools and which system deserves more government support.

    "Over the decades, education advocates and groups have taken their place in one of these camps and outlined passionate arguments for their preferred system.

    "While we acknowledge their strong advocacy in support of education, it is time for all of us to recognise that the old-style education debates need to be updated.

    "We need a conversation about a transparent, high-quality, well-funded education system for the 21st century; one that focuses on the needs of each student, the quality of our education system and how we can guarantee every child, no matter how rich or how poor, gets the best education possible.

    "I want this conversation to focus on:

    * The substance of our curriculum.

    * The commitment to rigorous academic standards.

    * The professionalism of our teachers.

    * The quality of school leadership.

    * The way we teach, including the way we use information and communication technology.

    "Our schools need to become more flexible and innovative in the way they teach. At the same time, the Rudd Government understands that all schools need certainty and stability. That is why we will deliver on our election commitment to spend $42 billion on the 2009-2012 schools agreement.

    "To ensure we build the strongest possible platform for the long-term investment and improvement in education outcomes beyond 2012, the Government will review the funding model in 2010-11.

    "The aim of the review is to provide greater transparency in the funding process. It is not designed to favour one school system over the other.

    "Let me be clear: some non-government schools serve some less affluent communities, and some public schools serve some more affluent communities. I am not interested in taking resources away from schools. What I am interested in is getting additional resources into disadvantaged schools.

    "In fact, the Council of Australian Governments views this issue so seriously that in March it agreed to developing a national partnership agreement by the end of the year, focused on the needs of low socio-economic status schools.

    "To help identify disadvantaged schools for the 2009-2012 funding agreement, we need to look at using tools similar to or developed from the current socio-economic status measure used for non-government school funding. Basically this means working out the socio-economic status of school communities can help us direct additional resources to those who need it the most. This year, for the first time, all students in all schools sat national tests in literacy and numeracy. These tests will help provide us with important data.

    "We need to be able to develop meaningful comparisons between schools - not for the purpose of league tables - but so we can collect better evidence and data to inform our analysis and policy development. That is why the Government has allocated $17 million to establish a national data centre for handling and analysing information on school and student performance.

    "If we look at the use of data as part of a competition we are short-changing the students and families who rely on that statistical evidence for the delivery of a high-quality education.

    "We will work closely with the states and territories to ensure this data is used effectively and in the interests of all students, schools and communities.

    "Where there is excellence and innovation, it should be something that is celebrated, evaluated and used as a source of learning for other educators.

    "There are examples of excellence, and of unacceptable underperformance, in schools of every sector. There is no point in putting labels on schools in the government, independent and/or Catholic systems. It is part of the old education debate.

    "There will always be differences of view, and differences of interest, across our very diverse school systems and jurisdictions. We must use that diversity as the basis for strength.

    "What I have outlined is a fundamental shift in how we view the delivery of education in Australia."

    Julia Gillard is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment, Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion.
    

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
    
  • Editorial
    New line on old argument

    "Politicians like to be seen as rising above politics, lifting the level of discussion beyond partisan allegiance. And few issues have been more divisive than the federal funding of private schools. "State aid", as it was once called, has generated continuing social, political, religious and educational controversy over the 4½ decades since it was introduced by the Menzies government. However, the federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, seeks to free the issue from its contentious past.

    "Writing in today's Herald, Ms Gillard says that debates about the quality of children's education have for too long revolved around public versus private schools, and which deserve more government support. She wants the focus on giving students the best education possible, no matter where they go to school. The minister is sensible to try to escape the sterile funding debate because it can never be resolved. Supporters of independent schools will always maintain, rightly, they are entitled to some government support, while ardent defenders of public education will begrudge any funding for private schools while even one government school remains in need.

    "Ms Gillard hopes to sideline that argument by promising to maintain funding for private schools while boosting money for public education. Although the Government is committed to review the way schools are funded before the end of its first term, Ms Gillard insists this is merely to provide greater transparency, and not to favour one school system. "I am not interested in taking resources away from schools [but] getting additional resources into disadvantaged school communities." That sounds like a very pricey pledge, if it means what it says. Certainly, private schools are entitled to take these words - and Ms Gillard's previous comments in the same vein - as a commitment to maintain their individual funding, and not just funding for private education generally. Ms Gillard should make it plain if, in fact, new funding arrangements could leave individual private schools worse off.

    "In the meantime, the Rudd Government is introducing innovative educational programs that don't discriminate between private and government schools (and Ms Gillard shows a welcome enthusiasm for developing rigorous data across both sectors to show how students - and their teachers - are performing). However, what Ms Gillard calls the "old-style education debates" will become suddenly new again at the first sign of a cut in funds for private school."
    
    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Education must be even-handed

      "What might the benefits be if we help our boys and young men? asks Robyn Dalziell (Letters, May 28). Well, for starters, we would have a lower suicide rate, less domestic violence, less alcohol abuse, more tolerance to others, and men would visit doctors regularly and may even live as long as women. Yes, education can help do all these wonderful things, and generally make society better. Just because men have historically done well in some areas does not mean they should be ignored. We should be striving for men and women to reach their full potential."

      Stuart Will, Concord
      
      

    • Furore over Muslim school in a class of its own
      
      "Focusing on the anti-Muslim bigots at Camden fudges the real issue ("Cheers as Islamic school rejected", May 28). One way Australia dealt with Irish sectarianism was through state schools. Differences dissolved when Protestant and Catholic children were required to see themselves as Australians.

"State and federal governments avoid their responsibility to educate young people by supplementing the funds of faith-based groups so that they may build and maintain religious schools. I would like my tax dollars spent on non-sectarian state schools only."

Carolyn van Langenberg, Blackheath



• "It seems as a Muslim I can't win. If I live in Lakemba, I am told I am insular and not trying hard enough to "fit in". If I move to Camden to assimilate and be more "Australian", I am told that "Camden has always been a white community" and "we don't want their sort round 'ere". Since Muslims are readily painted with the same brush, I will extend the same courtesy to Anglo-Australia: hang your heads in shame."

Zaid Khan, Blakehurst



• "Whether Camden should allow an Islamic school to be built is a planning decision in which one could reasonably expect the State Government and Frank Sartor to intervene, but so far not a peep."

Adriana Maxwel,l Jervis Bay



• "There is no room in today's Australia for provocative art and no room for religious tolerance. What a sad, bland, fearful nation we have become."

Robbie Roach, Randwick



• "For many people, the debate over the opening of an Islamic school is not a question of pro- or anti-Muslim. The question is: why do we need more religious schools? As a society we should be breaking down barriers not putting them up, and surely segregating people in their formative years is not the way to do this.

"We should be putting more resources into our public schools, whose ethos is everything the major religions espouse - tolerance, respect and unity through diversity."

Sarah Woolley-Benmayor, North Bondi



• "So Kate McCulloch of Camden declares that the Muslims do not want to accept our way of life. Does that mean that they don't get blind drunk, vomit all over the place, get involved in brawls and spend all their money on poker machines?

Frederick Forster, Beecroft



• "How offensive it is to see residents of Camden draped in Australian flags and mouthing totally un-Australian attitudes towards other Australians."

Neville Jennings, Kingscliff



• "While some of the opposition to the Islamic school was based on environmental grounds, there is no doubt that an underlying racism played a role.

"In essence, the opponents of the proposal have opted for a monocultural community. Is this a subtle extension of the feelings emanating from the Cronulla riot? We may be a multicultural nation, but there are some who have still not learnt to live with diversity and difference.

"Australia should be an example of a nation where different people and cultures can exist peacefully within an Anglo-Celtic system of values and governance. In a world plagued with religious wars and racial strife, people should at last be able to see a community in which we all accept each other as individuals, as Australians and not as ethnic stereotypes."

James A. Athanasou, Maroubra



• "I'm not sure why the Muslims who want to attend the exclusive school at Camden can't simply go to existing schools, either there or elsewhere. Surely they need to adhere to the same curriculum as all other NSW students. Why set themselves apart when they can assimilate better in established schools?

"If they need additional specific lessons, they can do what the Greek kids at my primary school did - they had lessons on school premises two days a week after regular school was finished."

Margaret Nelson, Double Bay

• Julia Gillard Media Release [The 2008 Fraser Lecture]
  
  
  • A New Progressive Reform Agenda For Australian Schools
    

 

Friday 30 May

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Officials rapped over $2m [Balga Works] bungle (page 4)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    “A daunting parliamentary committee report has blamed the Education Department for the failure of the $2 million, taxpayer-funded Balga Works program for disadvantaged youth.
    
    “The program operated out of Balga Senior High School between 2005 and 2006 to provide education and accommodation support to troubled youth, many of whom were involved in the juvenile justice system.

    “The parliamentary inquiry into the program was launched last year after The West Australian revealed that the department, at the request of the Corruption and Crime Commission, was investigating the program.

    “The parliamentary report was also highly critical of the department for obstructing the committee’s 12-month investigation into the bungled program by withholding information.

    “It said that in giving evidence to the inquiry some senior department officers “appeared defensive”, “sought to provide as little assistance as possible” and were not being “completely open and transparent”.

    “The committee could not investigate what happened to all the Government funding poured into the program because of the lack of adequate record keeping. [emphasis added]
    
    “The committee, which was chaired by Greens MLC Giz Watson, tabled its 290-page report yesterday, which recommended the State Government pay compensation to former employees of the program for their outstanding wages and superannuation.
    
    “It said the program was “an abject failure”, saying many former employees had been left emotionally and financially scared by the experience.

    “Some had defaulted on mortgage repayments and racked up massive credit card debts because they had not been paid regularly.
    
    “The committee found that much of the responsibility for the failures of the program and the poor administration of Balga Senior High School lay with Merv Hammond, who retired as principal in October 2006.
    
    “Mr Hammond was a former State school principal of the year.
    
    “The report found the Education Department was also responsible for the program’s failures because of its ineffectiveness in managing Mr Hammond.

    “It said the department was complicit in providing funding for the program in an ad-hoc manner. [emphasis added]
    
    “The report said that then education minister Alan Carpenter met a number of people backing a proposal for the program in 2004 but indicated he would not support it because of the money needed.
    
    “There were no minutes or written record of the meeting.
    
    “The committee found that despite the program not receiving Mr Carpenter’s backing, senior department officers continued to develop the program using alternative funding models.
    
    “According to the report, the department set up an investigation into the program in 2005 after it discovered than an unauthorised deal had been struck between Mr Hammond and Michael Carton, who was representing a Melbourne-based company called MITS which provided services to the program.
    
    “Mr Caron, who ran the program, is a confessed former heroin user, alcoholic and sexually abused bankrupt who narrowly escaped imprisonment last year after pleading guilty in a Victorian court to using forged documents to rip off the Commonwealth.
    
    “The report said the decision to allow the program to continue failed to recognise the seriousness of he problems. “The department was aware of the extraordinary misconduct and deficiencies in management at Balga Senior High School at that time,” the report said.
    
    “Education Department director-general Sharyn O’Neill said yesterday that she had put in place a series of initiatives to improve school accountability.” [emphasis added]
    
    [Would love to hear the details, Sharyn. Thou shalt not spend $2 million on your DET VISA card without approval, perhaps? Web]
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • National school test scores low on information for parents [Front Page]
    by Bethany Hiatt

    “Parents will have little idea how their children scored in recent national reading, writing and maths tests because student reports will include only “plain English” descriptions of achievement rather than numerical test scores.
    
    “Thousands of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 who sat the National Assessment Plan Literacy and Numeracy tests this month will receive a report comparing their results against the national average and the middle 60 per cent of students.
    
    “A sample report released by the Federal Government has revealed that each student’s performance in the tests will be shown as a dot within six “bands” of achievement.  But the reports will not reveal the child’s test scores, or how the cut-offs between bands are decided.
    
    “A spokeswoman for Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said the bands would inform parents whether their child had attained the level of achievement expected for their age.
    
    “The bands are not defined by numerical test scores but by reference to a series of criteria relating to tasks, knowledge and skills that all students should be able to master in order to reach the different levels of achievement,” she said.  “Plain English descriptions of what these tasks are will be available for parents and students for the first time.”
    
    “WA Council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry said parents wanted concise information – such as percentage – so they could work out exactly how their child was performing.  “I would have thought a numerical score would’ve been ideal,” he said.  “If you give a numerical score, and say if they achieve 70 per cent, that’s good, and if they achieve 50 per cent that means it’s not good and this is where we need to do our supplementary support.”
    
    “Mr Fry also was concerned that if cut-off points between bands were not revealed, they could be changed each year to make it appear as though students’ performance had improved over time, even if they had not. 
    
    “We seem to have all these mathematical formulas that work out all these things but the goal posts keep moving, you never know really what is what,” he said. 
    
    “International assessment expert David Andrich said percentages could be misleading because the tests were designed to measure children’s achievements across a scale from Year 3 to Year 9. 
    
    “Professor Andrich, who is based at the University of WA, said rather than seeing the assessment as one test, it should be viewed as a series of questions, from easy to difficult, covering all year groups. 
    
    “It’s not just one test, it’s a scale,” he said.  “Some questions are easy, some are difficult.”
    
    “Percentages were only informative if tests were set in the traditional way in which anything over 50 per cent was considered pass and below that was a fail. 

    “In the proposed report, students in the lowest band in each year level are interpreted as not meeting the national minimum standard, and in traditional terms of passing and failing, could be seen as having failed to meet the standard,” he said.” [emphasis added]
    
    From The West Australian

    
    
    
    

  • Alston (page 20)

  
  © The West Australian
  
  
  

  • Behavioural centres labelled a cosmetic fix [late pickup from 28 May]
    by Aleisha Preedy
    
    "Plans to open five behaviour centres in WA to combat unruly behaviour in primary schools is not the answer, says WA Opposition Education Minister Peter Collier.

    "The State Government announced today that students who are persistently disruptive and aggressive will be sent to the new centres in Canning, Fremantle, Peel, Swan and West Coast education districts from July.

    "The students will get help from psychologists and teachers trained in behaviour management.

    "In announcing the $4m Primary Behaviour Centres project, Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan said agencies like the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Department for Child Protection would work with schools to support challenging children who disrupt the learning of other students.

    "Mr McGowan said the new centres would ease the increasingly complex social issues faced by teachers and students that were beyond the realm of school control.

    “It is not the role of teachers to act as parents,” Mr McGowan said.

    “Classroom teachers and students should not be expected to cope with severely disruptive behaviour.

    “Furthermore, the behaviour of these few students also adversely affects the progress of other students in the classroom, as well as their own academic and social development.

    "However, Mr Collier said that the new centres were nothing more than a facelift for the old Socio Psycho-educational Resource (SPER Centres).

    “What we need are comprehensive behaviour management strategies across all government schools,” Mr Collier said.

    “All the minister has done is rebandaged the old SPER Centres and called them behaviour management centres.

    “It is purely cosmetic and it is a direct result of one of the key recommendations of the yet to be released Twomey taskforce report that shows behaviour management is a massive issue in our public education system.” [emphasis added]

    "Mr McGowan said the new centres would receive an additional $2m in annual funding and replaced the SPER centres.

    "The primary behaviour centres would initially focus on helping the students and teachers in the classroom before removing the student from school.

    From The West Australian online at link
    
    
    
    
  • Uni academics chase 27 per cent pay rise
    AAP
    
    "A 27 per cent pay increase over three years for Australia's university academics is negotiable, but they deserve it for the contributions they have already made to the booming tertiary sector, a union says.

    "In the past 12 years, university staff numbers had risen by 18 per cent, but student numbers had jumped 45 per cent, National Tertiary Education Union general secretary Grahame McCulloch says.

    "The (union) ... is seeking a competitive wage rise for Australia's university staff but we're also seeking urgent action by universities to relieve the workload pressure on academic and general staff and, very importantly, to improve the career prospects for the very large numbers of casual academic and research staff," Mr McCulloch told ABC Radio on Friday.

    "The productivity gains in the university sector over the last 15 years have been truly astounding and so we regard a competitive wage rise as no more than compensation for the substantial productivity efforts that have already been made by staff."

    "Mr McCulloch said academics working overseas and in some scientific research roles in Australia had received significant pay increases and universities must offer competitive wages or risk losing staff.

    "The claim's negotiable but ... the key point here is that university staff have already made very substantial productivity contributions which, for the duration of the Howard government, because of the funding squeeze, went largely unrewarded," he said.

    "Our 27 per cent pay claim, though, is not just about productivity gains, it's also about maintaining an internationally competitive position for out universities."

    "Mr McCulloch said a pay increase was also important because academics, like all Australians, were facing inflationary pressures, interest rate rises and the continuing cost-of-living pressures."

    From The West Australian online at link
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    
    

    • Our solution

      “The report (Business lobby seeks $130,000 for teachers, 26/5) requires comment.  The Business Council of Australia should be thanked for its comments on the need for better pay for teachers and that better pay would acknowledge the important contribution that teachers make to the community. 

      “The proposal, however, that this should be achieved by a national accreditation agency should be examined carefully.  Your report indicates that the agency would “not be beholden” to State governments, yet money for the increased salary would come from State governments!  It is difficult to see why State governments would pay for something that they have not say or control over. 

      “It is also important to note that certification by a body not linked to employers does not guarantee recognition of that certification with increased salary by an employer.

      “The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the US is a similar model. However, the process to get certification is expensive and time-consuming for teachers.  This is reflected in the fact that in the 21 years of its existence only a total of 64,000 teachers in that time have received certification.

      “Given that education is a State government responsibility and that each State and the Northern Territory have teacher registration that work together nationally as the Australian Teacher Registration Authorities, a federated model would be more realistic.”

      Brian Lindberg, chair of the board, WA College of Teaching

      [BUT, as Chris Curtis pointed out on the PLATO Forum: The BCA never recommended a national registration board. It explicitly left registration to the states. It wanted a national body with the sole function of accrediting teachers at advanced levels... Web]
      
      
      

  • Inside Cover (page 2)
    
    
    • Chalkies play schoolies on Rottnest
      
      “Come December we’re used to seeing flocks of Year 12 leavers attempting to smuggle their VB cartons and 4-packs of watermelon cruisers off the Rotto ferry but next Wednesday the island folk of Thomson Bay should be prepared for an invasion of a different kind.

      “IC was under the obviously misguided impression that WA was in some kind of education crisis.  Not so.  It seems that throughout the chalkie shortage, the bursting classrooms and a pay crisis there is a silver lining.  And its name is the Rottnest Lodge. 

      “While many of us may be looking forward to a little winter getaway the district director of schools in Fremantle has ensured that the head chalkies under the guard will be treated Rottnest at its finest.

      “Education snoop, Books, told IC that the director instructed all of the principals in her district to attend an evening at the lodge next week, with schools footing the bill.

      “The principals will take the ferry in the afternoon, undoubtedly share some hospitality and have a pleasant evening,” Books revealed.

      “The next day I’m sure they will participate in some meaningful professional learning to be back on the mainland in time to be back at schools for the bell to sound the end of the school day.  Possibly all of them en masse are going to visit Rottnest Primary School to help it along its turbulent path – it is after all in the Fremantle district.”

      “Julie Woodhouse, director of schools for the Fremantle to Peel education district, told IC that 35 principals from Medina to Port Kennedy would make the trip.

      “(They) will be attending workshops and meetings at the lodge as part of their professional learning,” she said.  “Rottnest was chosen as a venue because it has significant Aboriginal history and the workshops will link into that history.” [emphasis added]

      “IC wonders whether professional learning includes a dinner at the lodge’s restaurant Marlin’s – pan-fried barramundi for $35.50 or a $38 char-grilled sirloin, perhaps enjoyed while sipping on a $45 bottle of Jim Barry cab sav. 

      “With the weather expected to pick up next week, who know, after a fine meal at Marlin’s some intra-district canoodling down at Pinkies while watching the setting sun may be on the cards. 

      “To their credit, IC is told not many of the principals are keen on the Rottnest jaunt.  But alas the gun is being held to their heads it seems to pay the $130 cover charge out of their professional learning budgets. 

      “Books also assures IC that the Rottnest sojourn will be the second getaway in a fortnight for some of the principals, but this time they were joined by more junior chalkies from metro primary schools. 

      “It seems our principals have had enough of pay negotiations and took the matter into their own hands with a night on the roulette wheel.

      “This (Rottnest) is all despite the principals attending their annual conference at Burswood the previous week, also paid for by the schools,” Books said.

      “Most of the metropolitan principals stay at Burswood for the three days.  Far too difficult to drive home for the night.”

      “But the Education Department was unaware of any overnight stays at Burswood.  “If this is the case then they may have made private arrangements.”

      “Looks like the winnings were better than expected.”

      From The West Australian
      
      

• The Age
  
  
  • Two-thirds of private schools 'over-funded'
    by Farrah Tomazin
    
    "Catholic schools in Melbourne's affluent suburbs are the most over-funded in Victoria, with students receiving almost $3000 more than their federal entitlements, according to new research.

    "An analysis of the Government's private schools funding model has found that two-thirds of private schools are over-funded, with those serving the richest families getting much more than those serving poorer ones.
    
    "The findings are based on education department data to be released today by Canberra-based lobby group Save Our Schools. According to the study, eight out of the top 10 over-funded secondary schools in Victoria are Catholic systemic schools (the other two are Jewish), while all the top 10 over-funded primary schools are Catholic.
    
    "In the secondary system, Loretto Mandeville Hall in Toorak gets the most money beyond normal federal entitlements ($3186 per student), followed by the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick ($3069), Genazzano FCJ College in Kew ($2844) and St Kevin's College in Toorak ($2722). At primary school level, St Cecilia's Parish School students, in Glen Iris, topped the list ($2721), followed by Our Lady of Victories Parish School in Camberwell ($2704).
    
    "Under the funding model, schools are funded according to the socio-economic status of the families who attend. However, some private schools are funded at higher rates because they were given guarantees when the "socio-economic status" system was introduced in 2001 that they would have their funding maintained — even if they qualified for less under the new model.
    
    "The Catholic lobby yesterday said the study was misleading because it failed to take into account funding by state and federal governments.
    
    "But Save Our Schools spokesman and former Productivity Commission economist Trevor Cobbold said the study showed that the extent of inequality was worse than thought.
    
    "Current Australian Government funding of private schools is incoherent and capricious," he said. "The SES funding model being continued by the Rudd Government delivers more than $2 billion in over-funding over four years to some of the wealthiest parents in Australia, supporting them to send their children to some of the most elite schools in Australia. In contrast, the poorest private schools get no over-funding."
    
    "But Melbourne's Catholic Education Office director Stephen Elder said: "It is untrue to say that Catholic schools are over-funded. Victorian Catholic schools are the lowest government-funded Catholic schools in Australia. The Catholic system redistributes funds from better-off schools in an attempt to make up this significant gap."
    
    "Education Minister Julia Gillard has also signalled her intention to expand the SES system of funding private schools to public schools.

    "But Mr Cobbold said this could result in public schools going backwards because the funding model would "systematically … under-estimate need in government schools".

    From The Age at link
    
    Similar story in The Sydney Morning Herald [NSW examples]
    
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • You don't dictate what we debate, Ms Gillard

      "Julia Gillard (Opinion, May 29) ignores a fundamental point about schools and learning. Learning does not simply take place in the classroom, but in the playground, in the school "community". By all means dispense with the divisive public/private, religious/non-religious, selective/non-selective debates, but do not ignore the wider issue.

      "The real issue is inclusive-versus-exclusive. Schools that are segregated along economic, religious or academic lines teach appalling lessons. Why can't all of our children just go to school together? Why do we have to corral them into educational ghettoes? Each and every school needs diversity within its walls.

      "Ms Gillard, you may be the minister in charge, you may even be the Deputy Prime Minister, but you don't get to dictate what should or should not be debated. Education is about so much more than service delivery, and the Julia Gillard we put into power knows it."

      Lee Borkman, Menangl

Saturday – Sunday, 31 May – 1 June

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    Parents kept in dark on student test scores
    
     “Once again, parents are to be denied straightforward information about students’ performances.
    
    “They will have little idea of how their children scored in national reading, writing and maths tests because each students’ performance will be shown as a dot within six “bands” of achievement.
    
    “Reports will not reveal test scores or how cut-offs between so-called bands are decided.
    
    “It is impossible to believe that education authorities do not have the wit to come up with a simple system of scores to allow parents to understand at a glance how their children performed.
    
    “At best, this style of reporting to parents is unnecessarily complex. At worst, it is a deliberate exercise in camouflage.”
    
    From The West Australian

    
    

  • Cost rise cuts school heater servicing (page 70)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    “Gas heaters in State schools will not be serviced this year because the Education Department is trying to save money.
    
    “Schools in the Swan education district were advised last week that heaters would not be serviced because a maintenance tender was double that of last year.
    
    “The department confirmed it but said there was no statutory requirement for annual maintenance of heaters.
    
    “It is understood that gas heaters have been serviced annually in the past.
    
    “A spokesman said the cost also had doubled in the West Coast district.
    
    “Maintenance funding is limited and, as is always the case, items need to be prioritised,” he said. “Gas heaters are serviced as part of our preventative maintenance strategy.”
    
    “Steve Pietersen, State manager for gas heater supplier Rinnai, said students would not be in any danger. Heaters would run more efficiently and last longer if they were serviced regularly but were not likely to cause health problems if they were not.”
    
    From The West Australian
    
    See much stronger version of this story in The Sunday Times

     

  • See pages 105 - 107 for THREE large DET box adverts for principals.
    
    
    

• The Sunday Times
  
  
  • Government says gas heaters 'too expensive' to service
    
    "Children's lives are being put at risk because the Education Department won't service school gas heaters - claiming it's too expensive.

    "Outraged principals, parents and teachers say not servicing school heaters -- many of which are old -- is akin to playing Russian roulette with students' safety.
    
    "They said gas leaks could be lethal and such units had not been serviced since last winter.
    
    "Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said the Government's priorities were "seriously skewed'' if it could not find sufficient funds for what should be a non-negotiable service.
    
    "When it comes to student safety, there must be no compromises,'' Mr Collier said.
    
    "The Sunday Times obtained an email from Mr Collier revealing the heater plan for metropolitan schools, sent from Swan District Education Office district operations support officer Ian Gould on May 23.
    
    "Please be advised that gas heaters in schools will not be serviced this financial year,'' the email said.
    
    "The reason for the decision is that a tender process for the routine gas-heater program was undertaken and the tender result was more than double last year's.
    
    "In addition, DET (Department of Education and Training) has provided limited funds for building maintenance in the 2007-08 financial year and DHW (Department of Housing and Works), in particular Mario Byrne, decided to not service the heaters this year.
    
    "It is important to note that gas-heater servicing is not mandatory under any legislation or standard.''
    
    "The Department of Housing and Works would continue servicing airconditioners, evaporative coolers and "any item that is mandatory under legislation'', the email said.
    
    "One metropolitan school principal said: "It's like playing Russian roulette with the kids because these heaters could have gas leaks and we wouldn't know. This isn't something DET should be saving money on. It's about kids' safety.''
    
    "Another principal said: "This is an appalling state of negligence because gas heaters are potentially dangerous.
    
    "The last thing anyone wants is 25 or 30 kids in a classroom with a gas heater that leaks so subtly that nobody notices. They say, if you know something is wrong, report it as a fault. But how would you know? We're civilians.
    
    "It is like playing Russian roulette because a lot of heaters are old. In many cases they have been there as long as the buildings and so have the connections.''
    
    "One Government insider said the Education Department was millions of dollars over budget, which was why it was trying to save on maintenance. [emphasis added]
    
    "Education Minister Mark McGowan denied such a blow-out had occurred, but confirmed the "tender for maintenance of gas heaters in the Swan and West Coast Districts was double that for the previous year''.
    
    "And while we are spending $300million on school maintenance state-wide, we need to prioritise that funding to ensure schools in every part of WA are kept in a reasonable state of repair,'' he said.
    
    "He said gas heaters were serviced as part of a preventive maintenance strategy, but there was no statutory requirement for annual servicing.
    
    "But principals said it had been a year since the last service and it should be a regular task with potentially dangerous equipment.
    
    "Mr McGowan said if there was a fault with a gas heater it was "addressed as a priority''.

    From The Sunday Times at link
    
    
    
  • McGowan under fire over family flight
    by Paul Lampathakis
    
    "A senior bureaucrat had to charter a plane costing thousands of taxpayers' dollars to get to Fitzroy Crossing because Education Minister Mark McGowan took his family on a government aircraft.

    "Government insiders said there was no room for then-Kimberley district education director Stephen Baxter on Mr McGowan's flight, because the minister's wife, Sarah, and two young children were with him on the trip in June last year.
    
    "Mr McGowan's plane flew from Perth to Fitzroy Crossing, 2524km north of Perth. Mr Baxter flew on another plane from Broome. The minister's staff refused to say how much the charter cost.
    
    "But Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said it would be thousands of dollars a day for such flights.
    
    "He asked why Mr McGowan didn't stop in Broome to pick up Mr Baxter and save chartering another plane.
    
    "WA State School Teachers' Union president Anne Gisborne asked whether Mr McGowan had turned an official visit into a "family frolic'' at taxpayers' expense, at a time when the Government wasn't paying teachers properly.
    
    "The Government source said: "We weren't quite sure why it was necessary for him to bring his wife and two children on a tour of the Kimberley.''
    
    "Mr Collier said it was little wonder morale was so low among WA teachers when they heard such stories.
    
    "Teachers felt that those in the education hierarchy, such as the minister and departmental staff, were out of touch with the real challenges facing the profession.
    
    "Mr Collier said Mr McGowan could not close a deal to pay teachers decent salaries and the Government did not have enough funds to service school heaters.
    
    "But he can afford to fill up a plane with his family and spend taxpayers' cash on having to charter a plane for a senior DET officer, who actually had some legitimate business up there,'' Mr Collier said.
    
    "Mr McGowan said it was within Department of Premier and Cabinet guidelines for his wife and children to accompany him on the trip, which was to announce that construction of a new high school had started.
    
    "In addition to my family, I was accompanied by the director-general of Education and Training and two staff members,'' Mr McGowan said. "The flight went directly to Fitzroy Crossing from Perth.
    
    "Therefore the Kimberley district director made his own arrangements from Broome to Fitzroy Crossing to take part in the visit.''
    
    "The minister's spokeswoman said no additional flight had been incurred by the minister's decision to take his family to Fitzroy Crossing.

    "The spokeswoman said the most cost effective option was for the Minister to fly directly to Fitzroy Crossing. She said district directors in remote parts of Australia regularly chartered flights to visit remote communities and this was no different."
    
    From The Sunday Times at link
    
    
    

  • High school truancies up by 14,000 (page 10)
    by Paul Lampathakis

    “High school truancy in WA increased by nearly 14,000 incidents last year.

    “Figures revealed in Parliament this week show there were 686,689 unauthorised half-day absences at secondary schools in 2007, compared with 672,850 the year before.

    “Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said the figures were unacceptable, but not surprising, while the department said a change in the way absences were counted was behind the rise.

    “Truancy is directly related to behaviour management,” Mr. Collier said.

    “Unless the Government is prepared to provide significantly more funds for public schools to implement comprehensive behaviour management strategies these figures will inevitably deteriorate further.

    “I am not talking about a few specialist centres for the most disruptive students. I mean resources for all schools to ensure that early intervention strategies can be introduced and continued for every year of a child’s education.”

    “But the Education Department’s school support programmes executive director, David Axworthy, said the increase in truancy numbers had happened because record keeping had improved.

    “The department moved from a manual attendance data system to an electronic system in 2006, which is far more accurate,” Mr. Axworthy said. “Therefore, it is not surprising that there has been a jump of about 2 per cent in the figures since the new system came in.”

    “He said it could not be assumed that every unauthorised absence was an act of truancy.

    “Unauthorised absences simply mean they have not been satisfactorily explained by the child’s parent,” he said.”
    
    From The Sunday Times   

    
    
    
  • Parliamentary committee says Balga project poorly planned [30 May]
    by Paul Lampathakis
    
    "The Education Department sunk more than $2 million into the Balga Works Program "without proper planning" mechanisms, a parliamentary committee has found.
    
    "And the department was ineffective in responding "in an appropriate and timely manner'' despite "overwhelming evidence'' of issues faced by Balga Senior High School and the program, the committee said.
    
    "The department also failed to adequately verify enrolment and attendance records for the program, which was supposed to help disadvantaged youth.
    
    "But the committee's report - which was tabled in parliament yesterday - also found responsibility for the failures of the program and administration of the school lay mainly with then-Balga principal Mervyn Hammond.
    
    "Police and the Corruption and Crime Commission started investigating Balga Works in 2006 after the department received at least 22 complaints about unpaid wages and superannuation from former employees of the Melbourne-based company paid to run the program at the school.
    
    "The Education department paid that company - Hurson Pty Ltd - through the school, more than $2 million without a complete tender process.
    
    "Mr Hammond has been charged with 15 counts of corruption over his involvement in the program.
    
    "Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier, who was on the committee, said the State Government needed to adopt all 15 recommendations of the damning report.
    
    "The committee's investigations found gross mismanagement of the project at senior levels of the Department of Education and Training,'' Mr Collier said.
    
    "(This) led to the waste of over $2 million in taxpayer funds while the people that the program was meant to help were neglected.
    
    "If the government is serious about making amends for the Balga Works scandal, all recommendations, including compensation for the people affected, must be adopted.
    
    "The fact that this mismanagement continued for so long under successive Ministers is an indictment on the Government and the department.''
    
    "Mr Collier said it was also imperative that recommendations be adopted about the compensation of pay, and counselling for staff and students.
    
    "The people most affected by the failure of Balga Works and the issues surrounding it are the disengaged students who did not get the support they needed and the staff who were not paid for their work,'' he said.
    
    "Also a program for disengaged youth like those neglected during the Government's Balga Works scandal must be established as a matter of urgency to provide the training and support they need.''
    
    "Among 15 recommendations from the Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Operations, Balga Works Program, was that school employees who were parents' and citizens' association members be prohibited from being signatories on P and C bank accounts.
    
    "The committee also said the Education Department should develop written policies and guidelines for due diligence checks to be undertaken by schools when engaging a private service provider.
    
    "Recommendations also called for the department to investigate whether funding provided by the Aboriginal Education and Training Directorate to the school was used for the purpose it was intended.
    
    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said the Government would review the report and seek further legal advice on the issue of compensation.
    
    "The State Government has put in place a range of new measures including the new professional standards and integrity directorate to improve accountability,'' he said.
    
    "But Mr McGowan also said it would not be appropriate to give compensation to people who may have been involved in decision-making at the company."
    
    From The Sunday Times at link
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    

    • “After reading how Alan Carpenter (our accidental premier) has manipulated ALP pre-selection (“I cried when Carpenter dumped me”, TST, May 25), I have reached a conclusion. Once it was Joh Bjelke-Petersen, then Jeff Kennett assumed the mantle. But now the verdict is in – Mr Carpenter is the most arrogant premier in Australia’s history."
      
      Patrick F Whalen, Yokine

      
      
      
• The Weekend Australian
  
  
  • Meeting aims to 'reclaim' literature
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Literature has lost its place in school English courses, pushed aside by the focus on practical skills and the social theories imposed on the subject.

    "A network of English academics and teachers concerned by the sidelining of literature in school rooms is determined to ensure the national curriculum being developed embeds an appreciation of literature at the centre of English studies.

    "To this end, the Arts, English and Literacy Education Research Network will host the first symposium on a national curriculum in English next Saturday at Sydney University to promote the value of students having an aesthetic appreciation of literature and the arts.

    "Convener of the symposium and network co-ordinator, Jackie Manuel, said the national curriculum was an opportunity to correct the imbalance in the English curriculum and put aside the culture wars on reading and literature that had divided the teaching profession.

    "Dr Manuel, a senior lecturer in English education in Sydney University's education faculty, said the colonisation of English by cultural studies and social theories had been productive insome ways but there were aspects that needed to be questioned.

    "The inclusion of critical theory in the senior school syllabus, requiring students to examine texts through a "critical lens" such as racism, Marxism or sexism, was one area that should be rethought, she said.

    "Over the past 20 years, English has been the site for a whole lot of different theoretical perspectives," Dr Manuel said.

    "English teachers go into teaching because of a love for literature. They love books, they love the aesthetic experience and the critical skills literature gives them.

    "We need to look at when and with whom we introduce critical theory.

    "Research has shown it can detract from students' overall enjoyment of literature.

    "It was traditionally something done at university level. Of course there are students capable of it in the senior secondary years but we need to be mindful that there are many students in Year 12 for whom the notion of critical theory is a complex and challenging one."

    "Dr Manuel said the focus on literacy skills and measuring them through a national test was necessary but the international PISA study showed Australian students were falling behind in sophisticated reading skills.

    "She said school was not just about preparing students for the workplace but also for life.

    "We want them to see literature as another source of learning, knowledge and understanding rather than just something that's going to be assessed.

    "We want them to have a lifelong relationship with literature and the arts ... to see it as an essential part.

    "It's been lost in the focus on practical and vocational skills. They're important but there has to be a balance," she said."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Schools brace for a war of independents
    by Kevin Donnelly
    
    "One of the defining moments in the 2004 federal election campaign involved then Opposition leader Mark Latham's hit list of so-called elite non-government schools, targeted to lose millions of dollars in commonwealth funding if Labor were elected.

    "In 2007, Kevin Rudd, as Opposition leader, refused to engage in the politics of envy and his promise to keep the prevailing funding arrangements until 2012, with no non-government school being worse off, nullified education as an electoral disadvantage.

    "Judging by responses to a recent speech by federal Education Minister Julia Gillard at a meeting of the NSW Association of Independent Schools, it is obvious that funding, especially to non-government schools, is still a volatile issue.

    "Gillard's argument that "Australia's school funding system is one of the most complex, most opaque and the most confusing in the developed world" and that there needed to be "a huge change in the way we resource and support schools in Australia" led some to believe that Latham's hit list was to be resurrected.

    "Fears that independent and Catholic schools will be worse off as a result of the planned review of funding, involving government and non-government schools and due to report by 2011, are understandable.

    "Earlier this year, the Fairfax press ran a campaign arguing that non-government schools were awash with taxpayers' money.

    "Headlines such as "$50m elite schools piggybank", "It's class war as elite schools roll in money" and "How private schools owe taxpayer $2 billion" suggest that the present system of funding is inequitable and that the millions spent on non-government schools should be directed elsewhere.

    "Those against funding non-government schools include Australian Education Union president, Angelo Gavrielatos and Australian Secondary Principals Association head Andrew Blair. According to Gavrielatos, the funding system is "distorted, corrupt and discredited". Blair argues: "Exclusive private (or government-supported schools) have enjoyed massive funding increases and are overfunded to the detriment of those in need." Where does the truth lie?

    "The reality is that parents of non-government school students, by paying taxes for a system they do not use plus private school fees, based on 2004-05 figures and research commissioned by the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria, save Australian governments $4.9 billion a year.

    "Across Australia, about 33 per cent of students attend non-government schools, and in Victoria the figure rises to more than 40 per cent at years 11 and 12.

    "Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007 numbers, this represents 1,148,146 students. Imagine the impossible financial burden placed on governments if such students had to be enrolled in state schools.

    "The annual cost of educating a child in a government school is just more than $10,000. On average, non-government schools receive just more than half this figure from the public purse, $5595, for each student enrolled.

    "The socioeconomic status formula introduced by the Howard government also ensures that the amount non-government schools receive is adjusted according to how advantaged or disadvantaged the community is from which schools take their students.

    "So-called wealthy schools receive minimum federal funding, set at 13.7 per cent of the average cost of educating a government school student, while schools serving disadvantaged communities are entitled to 70 per cent of that figure. Instead of receiving $10,000 in government funding, so-called wealthy schools receive only $1300 to $1800 a student. [emphasis added]

    "The reality is that most non-government schools are under-funded. According to a 2003 analysis for what was then the Department of Education, Science and Technology, government schools enrol 68 per cent of students and receive 76 per cent of total pubic funding, while non-government schools, which enrol 32 per cent of students, receive only 24 per cent.

    "Such is the political sensitivity related to school funding that a day after her speech to the AIS was reported, Gillard said the chances of reintroducing Latham's hit list were zero and that the Government supported the "rights of parents to choose the school that best meets the needs of their child". Can the Rudd Government be trusted to deliver?

    "While guaranteeing the existing funding arrangements until 2012, the real test of Labor's new-found commitment to non-government schools will be the changes that arise as a result of the forthcoming review.

    "While it's early days, the signs are not good. In a television interview on the ABC's Lateline on March 18, Gillard was asked whether the Government's commitment to the existing socioeconomic status funding arrangements would extend beyond 2012.

    "Gillard's reply - "No, no, our commitment was very, very clear. It is for the next schools funding quadrennium, for the next four-yearly agreement" - makes it obvious that there will be changes.

    "It is no secret that parents are voting with their feet and choosing the non-government school option. From 1997 to 2007, the number of students in government schools increased by 1.7 per cent while non-government enrolments increased by 21.9 per cent.

    "Labor governments are keen to restrict the growth of non-government schools by denying such schools adequate funding and by imposing increased regulation and control.

    "In a 2004 report prepared by the Allen Consulting Group for the Victorian Labor Government, one of the key suggestions was to integrate all schools into the state-dominated system, with those schools wishing to remain independent losing funding.

    "In his 2006 book Vital Signs, Vibrant Society, federal Labor's Craig Emerson, now Small Business Minister, also floated the idea of integrating government and non-government schools within the one system.

    "This year Victorian Education Minister Bronwyn Pike suggested New Zealand's integrated school system was a worthwhile model to follow.

    "In her aforementioned speech on education, Gillard also argued that Australia needed to move beyond the "public v private divide" and what she termed the "zero-sum competition between sectors". The focus, instead of funding school systems, should be on school communities.

    "The dangers in non-government schools becoming part of the government system are manifold. Schools would lose their unique character and, by being subjected to a centralised, state-managed bureaucracy, the type of autonomy and flexibility to best reflect local communities would be lost.

    "In NZ, integrated schools have to abide by government regulations over who they enrol and any increase in enrolments is evaluated in terms of its impact on nearby government schools; much like the New Schools Policy introduced by the Hawke Labor government in 1985, the intention is to restrict non-government school growth.

    "Based on arguments put by Barry McGaw, head of the Rudd Government's National Curriculum Board, that non-government schools fail to promote social cohesion, there is also the fear that to receive funding, non-government schools will have to abide by government enrolment requirements related to equity and social justice. As a condition of funding, McGaw argues that non-government schools must enrol "more physically, intellectually and socially disadvantaged students". Ignored is the record, especially among Catholic schools, of successfully dealing with disadvantaged and culturally diverse students.

    "When in Opposition, the ALP attacked the Howard government for forcing schools to implement government policy by tying its acceptance to funding; introducing A to E report cards was an example. In this year's federal budget, Labor has followed suit.

    "In the budget, the Government has earmarked $62.5 million for the Local Schools Working Together program. Based on the idea of co-location, government and non-government schools must share facilities, resources and curriculum to be eligible for funding.

    "In theory, the idea of schools from different systems working together sounds worthwhile. The danger, in addition to the added layer of bureaucracy, is that non-government schools will no longer be seen by the community as special and their unique character will be compromised.

    "Traditional supporters of the ALP, such as the AEU, also argue that non-government schools should be penalised by having their funding reduced by the amount they are able to raise privately.

    "The issue of school funding is complex and politically sensitive. Non-government schools, especially Catholic schools, are under-funded. While non-government schools in high socioeconomic status areas have reduced funding under the present formula, nearby government schools go unpenalised for having wealthy parents.

    "State government funding to schools is especially in need of review. The states are responsible for 77.5 per cent of the education budget and, in the words of an Australian Council for Educational Research report released last December, such funding represents "the least transparent and the least well understood".

    "To date, the Rudd Government has turned its back on Latham's hit list of non-government schools.

    "One hopes the school funding review about to get under way is not an excuse to resurrect the issue in a different guise."

    Kevin Donnelly is director of consultancy Education Strategies, based in Melbourne.

    From The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Leg-up to the top
    
    An 'unashamedly elitist' initiative is giving talented Aboriginal children the chance to gain a higher education.
    
    
    
  • Hysteria over fat children inflated
    
    Australia's childhood obesity epidemic has been "exaggerated" and government-led national prevention efforts may be misdirected, with childhood obesity only increasing in lower-income families.
    
    
    
  • Child aid workers recruited from UK
    
    First teachers, now child aid workers... perhaps they should tow the UK over here and be done with it. Web
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Private schools hog funding (late pickup from 30 May)
    by Anna Patty Education Editor
    
    "Private schools serving the wealthiest families are overfunded by as much as $3306 per secondary student, while schools serving low-income families are receiving no more than they are entitled to under the Commonwealth funding scheme, new research shows.

    "According to the data, the top three overfunded secondary schools in NSW are Marist College North Shore, overfunded by $3306 per student, St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga ($2717 per student) and Mercy Catholic College in Chatswood ($2717).
    
    "The top three overfunded NSW primary schools are Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Lindfield, ($3072 per student), Blessed Sacrament School School, Clifton Gardens ($3071) and Sacred Heart School, Mosman ($3070).
    
    "Seventy per cent of Catholic systemic school students are overfunded compared to 56 per cent of independent school students, the figures and analysis, to be released today, show.
    
    "The Catholic schools system pools government funding for individual schools and redistributes it according to how it sees fit."According to the study conducted by Save Our Schools, a public education advocacy group in Canberra, the scheme is in urgent need of review.
    
    "Less than half of all private schools are funded according to their true socio-economic status, according to the Commonwealth funding scheme.
    
    "The study's co-author, and Save Our Schools spokesman, Trevor Cobbold, said the scheme provided "preferential treatment of schools associated with one religious group and major disparities in funding between states".
    
    "In some cases, there are as many as seven or nine different funding levels for schools on the same SES score," he said.
    
    "The Federal Government's no-losers policy has meant that no school would lose funding after the system was changed in 2001 to take into account the socio-economic status of families.
    
    "Brian Croke, who heads the Catholic Education Commission NSW, said anyone claiming a school was overfunded had a deficient understanding of the Commonwealth model and the financial realities of schools.
    
    "A school is actually entitled to whatever the funding model set down in Commonwealth law allocates them," he said.

    "The executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, Geoff Newcombe, said the maintenance of funding for some schools was an integral part of the system.
    
    "To say the schools are being overpaid implies wrongdoing and is not only unfair, it's factually incorrect."

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Experience shows where problems lie
      
      "I am a head teacher in an extremely disadvantaged state high school. However, I also taught for several years in two "elite" private schools, so I have had the opportunity to observe how the special provisions system works in both situations.

      "In the private schools, caring is a priority. The wealth of students' families does not mean they are any less needy of these provisions. These schools have in place specially created support departments and give time and resources to their highly qualified staff, often more than one in a school, to carry out the identification, testing, interviews and paperwork required to get the provisions organised.
      
      "State schools are also caring. Their support staff are equally well qualified to do this job. What is the difference?
      
      "In the state school, only one support teacher is allocated to this job. That teacher is very likely on a full teaching load with no period allowance, which means preparation and marking time is eaten into trying to organise special provisions for a large number of very needy students.
      
      "Factor in high absenteeism, serious behavioural problems and families' lack of English, and the time spent getting this job done increases dramatically. Teaching and learning must be the support teacher's priorities, so not everything will get done.
      
      "State schools are supposed to be the ones providing equality for all. Until this is backed up by adequate resources, the private schools will continue to outdo the state schools in taking advantage of special provisions."

      Name and suburb withheld
      
      

    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Private school chief: some state pupils are unteachable
    by Polly Curtis, education editor
    
    Fury as former admiral talks of poor leadership and ignorant parents
    
    "State schools are struggling with unteachable children, ignorant parents, staff who don't want to be there and a shortage of leadership, according to the chief executive of the Independent Schools Council.

    "Chris Parry, whose organisation represents half of the 2,600 private schools in the UK, told the Guardian that state school pupils could not be expected to get into top universities if they were bullied by classmates from "disadvantaged backgrounds".

    "Asked what the problem with the state sector was, Parry said: "There are too many leaders but not enough leadership, there are a lot of managers and not enough management. There aren't enough teachers, and aren't enough teachers in subjects we need. It's lacking human, material [and] financial resources."

    "He said there were a lot of "wonderful" teachers, but they were hamstrung by over-regulation and a lack on independence.

    "Parry was speaking to the Guardian days before he is due to address his first annual conference of the ISC.

    "A controversial figure, the former rear admiral rose through the ranks and later headed a strategy unit at the Ministry of Defence which forecast future threats. At a seminar in 2006, he warned about the pressures of global migration, and his comments were reported as a warning about a "reverse colonisation" where indigenous populations are in the minority.

    "He will tell the conference next week that private schools need to be more up to date and consider future challenges, including the fact that teachers will increasingly be replaced by computers.

    "He is predicting that pupils will learn via Wikipedia-type programmes in class, with teachers helping them to apply the facts they build up online. [emphasis added]

    "But his scathing remarks about comprehensive schools in the course of a wide-ranging interview are likely to overshadow his message at a time when the government is attempting to build bridges with the independent sector.

    "He said it was understandable there was a lack of teachers because of the violence they face in some schools. Asked if he thought that some children in state schools were unteachable, he replied: "Yeah, I think there are contexts within which some children can't be controlled."

    "He also said: "You've got this situation in state schools where vast numbers of very good teachers are working with variable quality pupils and variable social context as well.

    "How can you expect to get an Oxford graduate out of that group when they are being bullied, they are being influenced ... by a group from perhaps a disadvantaged background who have got a different agenda?

    "One one occasion, he said, he had sat in on a parents' evening at a maintained school and was "shocked by the level of ignorance and criticism that came from the parents".

    "He said children might flourish if they are taken out of their state school and put in a private school, but they would fail again "if they go back to anarchy and chaos" of a troubled home.

    "In an apparent admission that private schools may have an effect on the state sector, Parry said: "The minute you take what you and I would call middle class bourgeois elements out of that social context ... you have [a] disadvantaged, deprived underprivileged critical mass, these schools are fighting a losing battle."

    "John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, denounced Parry's words. "It's that kind of ill-informed, snobbish idea of state schools which opens up the divide between the sectors that I don't think most private school heads would support," he said.

    "A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said it was "a deeply misguided picture, frankly insulting to the hard-working and talented teachers and pupils in the state sector".

    From The Guardian at link
    
    
    
  • Boys not better than girls at maths, study finds [30 May]
    by Anthea Lipsett
    
    "Boys are not innately better at maths than girls, and any difference in test scores is due to nurture rather than nature, researchers suggested today.

    "According to new research published in the journal Science, the "gender gap" in maths, long perceived to exist between girls and boys, disappears in societies that treat both sexes equally. When girls have equal access to education and other opportunities they do just as well as boys in maths tests.

    "The research, led by Prof Paola Sapienza of Northwestern University in the US, investigated whether a global gender gap exists and whether it was the result of social engineering rather than intrinsic aptitude for the subject.

    "The so-called gender gap in math skills seems to be at least partially correlated to environmental factors," Sapienza said. "The gap doesn't exist in countries in which men and women have access to similar resources and opportunities." ...
    
    Full story in The Guardian at link
    
    
    

• The Sunday Age
  
  
  • Relentless Rudd faces rebellion
    by Kerry-Anne Walsh
    
    "Federal Government ministers, staff and unions have warned Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that he is risking a serious political backlash with his workaholic attitudes and huge expectations.
    

    "And the Opposition has warned Mr Rudd that his frenetic work demands and hypocritical stance on work and family balance could be politically fatal.

    "But Mr Rudd's biggest concern is the brewing revolt within the federal public service.

    "The Commonwealth Public Sector Union, which represents more than 60,000 Federal Government employees and hundreds of political staff, is gearing up for a showdown over conditions, which include unacceptably long hours to meet increased job demands.

    "The union's national secretary, Stephen Jones, said that after a string of complaints from distressed and exhausted staffers he had met with senior ministers to relay his concerns about his members' health.

    "He said he could not rule out industrial action if the working conditions of staff did not improve. "I certainly hope it doesn't get to that. I wouldn't want to speculate on that," he said.

    "Mr Jones said widespread concern over what many public servants now viewed as intolerable working conditions had prompted a series of meetings between the union and the bureaucracy. He confirmed he would meet with parliamentary staff shortly, before a meeting with Mr Rudd..."
    
    Are teachers not in a similar situation, except they lack a strong union? Web
    
    Full story in The Sunday Age at link
    
    
    

  • Service offsets HECS
    by Josh Gordon
    
    "Young people would be allowed to undertake community service work to cut their HECS debts under a plan from the 2020 Summit singled out by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as "really worth following".

    "Releasing the 400-page final report for the summit, Mr Rudd also backed calls from business leaders to create a "seamless" national economy by introducing a single set of business rules covering all states.

    "He said the Government had already acted on another key recommendation to review Australia's tax system, announcing a comprehensive inquiry to be led by Treasury secretary Ken Henry.

    "There's dozens and dozens of ideas put forward here and we will work our way through these methodically," Mr Rudd said. "We'll embrace some of these ideas, others we will not be able to embrace and others again we'll modify."

    "The Government has promised to consider the final report before responding to each of the recommendations by the end of the year.

    "The Government has maintained throughout this process our support for concrete ideas that set out a practical approach to nation-building, and this will be reflected in our response."

    From The Sunday Age at link
    
    
    

• The Sunday Independent
  
  
  • New independent schools chief is a 'snob', say unions
    
    An independent schools leader who launched an outspoken attack on state education was yesterday denounced as "snobbish" and "misguided" by ministers and teaching unions.
    
    
    
  • The man who spent millions proving he could 'cure' dyslexia
    
    Wynford Dore is a man who divides opinions. Depending on your point of view he has either revolutionised the treatment of dyslexia or has taken advantage of desperate parents by charging them up to £2,000 for an unproven "miracle cure".
    
    
    
    
• The Age [Saturday]
  
  
  • Finding friends in the history boys
    by Dewi Cooke
    

    "... As an English elective for year 9 and 10 students, the program teamed students with a member of the Brotherhood's Coolibah Centre, a drop-in centre for disadvantaged over-55s, in a kind of social and generational exchange conducted over tea and scones.

    "Students spend a semester getting to know the elders and recording their stories for a digital archive. It culminated on Thursday in a screening of all the histories in an event hosted by the school.

    "For the students it has taught compassion, understanding and technical skills of recording and editing. Coolibah Centre manager Rod Miller says it has also helped many of the elderly involved regain a sense of pride..."
    
    Full story in The Age at link

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This page last updated 17 April, 2009 11:02 PM