22 March 2007
”The Independent Education Union of Australia welcomes the clarity of the Labor Party’s announcement today to abandon its previous ”hit list” policy position on school funding. It was divisive and ill conceived and allowed the diversion of a proper debate about important education policy issues when it was announced,” said Lynne Rolley Federal Secretary of the union.
“Labor’s commitment to remove the hit list, to conduct an open review of funding arrangements and to work on options for funding schools for the next quadrennial round will be welcomed by all education stakeholders. “
“It gives a vital opportunity for the community to take a new direction in school funding – one which is away from the Howard government’s funding model which has significantly increased the divide between the ‘haves and have nots’ across the country. This is exactly in contradiction of what the purpose of education which is to open up opportunity and to minimize social and economic divides,” said Ms Rolley.
“Also important is Labor’s commitment to making a greater investment in education at every level, including schools. This is consistent with the IEUA’s call over decades for governments of whatever persuasion to fund all schools based on a number of clear and transparent principles. And of course, one of the most important ones is the need for school authorities to know that their funding arrangements are reliable and consistent over the 4 year period”, she said.
“The IEUA has clear a fair and transparent funding policy for schools based on need and with reference to a national resources standard for schools and for rigorous accountability provisions for all schools. (see attached)
“The IEUA believes there is now the necessary ‘clear space’ for a transparent and open debate by all stakeholders on the required levels of resourcing of the nation’s schools regardless of whether they are government or non government. It signals the end of the divisive state aid debate which has hamstrung proper discussion about school funding for decades” she said.
“It also makes possible a more honest and robust dialogue about the current standards debate. Strengthening teaching and learning outcomes, which is strongly supported by the profession and the unions, requires governments to invest in the necessary resources to deliver these. Certainly it is the ‘elephant in the room’ when it comes to Minister Bishop’s statements on her proposals for performance pay,” said Ms Rolley.
“At the moment, there are a number of ‘rabbits out of a hat’ models coming from Minister Bishop in her press releases. But little understanding of the resource intensive processes required for legitimate approaches to recognizing and rewarding highly accomplished teachers”.
The IEU believes this announcement from the ALP in relation to funding commitments will provide the basis for constructive discussions for dealing with these and other important policy initiatives for education in the coming months.”
Downloadable files
Contact details
Lynne Rolley
Federal Secretary
Ph: 03 9254 1830
Fax: 03 9254 1835
ieu@ieu.org.au