THE LIBERALS’ FAILURE TO FUND GONSKI I commend the NSW Shadow Minister for Education Ryan Park calling on the Liberal Party to stop foisting its ideological agenda on schools – and instead commit to funding the full six years of the Gonski funding reforms that will benefit all students. Christopher Pyne’s announcement that he would make a select group of schools “independent ready” by 2017 would create a two-tier system between those prepared to fall into line with the Liberal Party’s ideological crusade and those who are not. Increased autonomy for some school principals is a smokescreen if the overwhelming majority of schools are punished with cuts to school funding. The Liberal Party has lost the right to be trusted on education after taking four different positions on Gonski over the last six months. The only announcement parents wanted from Christopher Pyne today is that he would commit the Liberal Party to fund the full six years of the Gonski reforms – given that the overwhelming funding injection comes in years five and six. The community is fed up with an Education Minister failing to guarantee school funding The Gonski Review, the Productivity Commission, the NSW Principals’ Associations and respected education experts such as Dr Ken Boston all advocate an approach to education that aims to lift the standards of all students – regardless of their socio-economic background or schooling system. If Minister Pyne wants to arrest the decline in student performance, he needs to focus on closing the growing gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students through needs-based funding. Labor left Minister Pyne with a once in a generation opportunity to fund all schools on an equitable needs basis – yet he has squandered that opportunity by failing to embrace the full six year Gonski model, which would ensure all schools were better off. Teachers, parents and students don’t want to see a two-tiered education system in NSW. This is just another ruse from the Liberal Party to divert from its failure to develop an equitable education funding policy
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 03:17:56 +0000
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