Recent Berejiklian Government reset after education policy failure seen as 'buck passing' by NSW Teachers' Federation

The Age, 7 December 2020:

Educators have lashed out at the NSW government's new performance targets for public schools, saying the policy fails to provide them with specialist resources they need and instead scapegoats teachers and principals for system failures.

The new School Success Model, announced by Education Minister Sarah Mitchell on Sunday, will require the education department to intervene in public schools that fail to meet performance targets and see executives take more responsibility for school outcomes.

It replaces the troubled Local Schools, Local Decisions model from 2012, which gave principals greater autonomy but axed support staff and left the department with little influence over how schools made decisions or spent money.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said Sunday's announcement was "more spin than substance" as it failed to restore adequate specialist support for schools. He said it instead blamed teachers and principals for failures.

"This policy will not deliver schools, teachers and principals the support they need to perform the very complex task expected from them ... It will not address crippling administrative burdens placed on schools," he said.

"It provides no evidence of the restoration of more than 800 specialist and expert positions that were stripped from the system when Local Schools, Local Decisions was announced."

He accused the government of attempting to distance itself from the "failed policy", which had cut support to schools for efficiency gains…..

Berejiklian Government still refusing to meet with Murwillumbah community to discuss forced school closures

 

Office of NSW Labor Member for Lismore, 27 November 2020:

PRUE CAR MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION

JANELLE SAFFIN MP
STATE MEMBER FOR LISMORE
 
JUSTINE ELLIOT MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR RICHMOND

 
GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, JOHN BARILARO, AND SARAH MITCHELL MUST COME OUT OF HIDING ON FORCED SCHOOL CLOSURES

 
The Liberals and Nationals have refused to front up to the Murwillumbah community and halt their forced school closures.

Gladys Berejiklian, John Barilaro and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell have been in witness protection since their bombshell announcement to force four Murwillumbah schools to close in favour of an American-style mega-school.    

Shadow Education Minister Prue Car, Lismore MP Janelle Saffin and Richmond MP Justine Elliot are holding a community forum today to hear the concerns of local families and teachers.

The Liberals’ and Nationals’ forced closures of Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School and Wollumbin High School will see the end of beloved community schools, with the replacement being an American-style mega-school at Murwillumbah High School.
 
The forced closure of Murwillumbah East Public School breaks a key election promise the Liberals and Nationals made to upgrade the school.
 
Ms Car said, “These forced school closures were approved in secret, with no community consultation, and now the Premier and Minister refuse to speak to the community.”

“The Liberals and Nationals are refusing to ask North Coast families the most important question: do they want school closures in exchange for an American-style mega-school? They’re not asking the question because they know the answer would be no.

“Unfortunately, the Liberals and Nationals are forcing these closures anyway because the views of local communities couldn’t matter less to them,” Ms Car said.

Ms Saffin said, “So far, the Government has not provided the community with a good reason for the closure, especially the educational advantage for the children, which lead people to think that it is about selling off this prime real estate land.”

“Given the NSW Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell was less than truthful with the Murwillumbah East Public School community about restoration following the 2017 flood damage, it is hard to have faith in what the Government wants to do.”

“The Minister signed off on this schools closure in February this year. There must be more documents that talk about the plan for the prime real estate land where these three schools slated for closure are located.”

“I demand all papers to be released, as our community deserve to know the truth about all of this,” Ms Saffin said.

Ms Elliot said, “This is a bad decision by a bad government. These secret school closures are a shameful act by the Liberals and Nationals – they’re selling out our children and selling out our community”

 

“The North Coast Nationals MPs have been plotting for months to forcibly close four local schools, cram students into one location and sell the other school sites. Our community wants the NSW Government to scrap this bad decision.”

Just what one would expect from a Lib-Nats government - a decision with minimum community consultation to herd at least 1,500 regional kindergarten to high school students in the one campus with likely teacher losses

Doesn’t this sound grand? A $100 million mega campus for all of the Murwillumbah area, merging students from kindergarten to high school……

Echo NetDaily, 28 October 2020:

Murwillumbah’s four public schools will be amalgamated into a single Kindergarten to Year 12 campus at Murwillumbah High, the state government has annouced.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced today that Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School, Murwillumbah High School and Wollumbin High School will be combined to form a single $100 million Murwillumbah Education Campus.

Ms Mitchell said the new mega school would cater to up to 1,500 students, and follow a four-year rebuilding project.

She pledged that no permanent teaching jobs would be lost, and spruiked the ‘community benefits’ of the plan, including the possible joint use of sporting, arts and health facilities.

‘The new Murwillumbah Education Campus will truly be at the heart of the community, and I look forward to seeing it take shape over the next few years,’ Ms Mitchell said…..

This announcement of a major school merger in the Northern Rivers took the local community by surprise and this appears to have been the plan all along according to the government's own time table which had the two primary school communities only informed by email on the day of the announcement. 

Possibly the lack of early warning was intended to mute the initial response of the teacher's union to the fact that this merger will inevitably see a reduction in teacher numbers once the school merger is completed. 

NSW Labor MP for Lismore Janelle Saffin, Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle and Shadow Minister for Education Pru Car are concerned with aspects of this merger, which probably consume more of the Berejiklian Government’s time than the creation of a new campus - the chance to sell off state property assets and the chance to reduce public education staffing levels.

Excerpt for a NSW Labor joint media release, 28 October 2020:

Without warning, the Liberals and Nationals will force Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School and Wollumbin High School to close and move into a single campus at Murwillumbah High School.

Department of Education documents obtained through the Upper House reveals that the amalgamation of four schools in 2024 will change the staffing allocation and potentially displace teaching and support staff.

The Liberals and Nationals promised an upgrade of Murwillumbah East Public School before the last election. Instead, they will now abandon their promise and close the school completely.

“Closing schools is the last thing the Liberals and Nationals should be doing. This is a betrayal of the community. They are robbing future generations of quality public schools in their communities,” Ms Car said.

“This announcement will rob the North Coast of three public school campuses, with a mega-school increasing school travel times for residents and reducing green space.”

Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle MLC said: “Now we know why the Premier and the National Party have been stalling on replacing the library and classrooms lost at Murwillumbah East Public School in the floods.

“Despite all their hollow promises, it seems that yet more privatisation is their true agenda, not delivering for students and families in Murwillumbah.

“This decision has been made without consultation. It has all the signs of a dirty land deal, and is not about improving educational outcomes.”

State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said: “I am seeking a guarantee from the NSW Government that all current teaching and support staff jobs will be retained.

“This cannot be a cruel cost-cutting exercise,” Ms Saffin said.

“I am also seeking a guarantee that public land stays in public hands and is not flogged off to private developers.”

Ms. Saffin also expanded on her views in another media release on the same day:

...it was a shame Mr Barilaro, as Leader of the NSW Nationals, did not take the opportunity while visiting Murwillumbah to make the following announcements for the town and our region:

A $45-million local business support fund for those impacted by the border closures, as he did for the NSW southern border businesses impacted by border closures.

The Nationals’ election promise to provide 280 more nurses, 32 doctors, 38 allied health staff and 50 more hospital workers with some for Murwillumbah Hospital.

The restoration of major contracts to our local businesses, who recently lost their contracts under Mr Barilaro’s big city-big company procurement policy, to remove waste from our Health, TAFE and caravan parks on Crown reserves.

The upgrade of the Voluntary Buyback House scheme to help with flood protection.

The upgrade to a 24/7 police presence in Murwillumbah.

The reopening of the Murwillumbah Women’s Refuge closed by the Nationals.

The restoration of the Murwillumbah Court services closed by the Nationals.

The announcement of our region’s share of the unspent $1.7 billion Restart NSW Fund, as promised by the Nationals.

Reversing the new practice of Essential Energy ‘gifting’ power poles to farmers and private landholders, which they must pay to maintain if deemed unsafe. 

Morrison's insistence that NSW public schools are safe places during the pandemic is not an accurate claim

On 9 April 2020 NSW public schools began the school year's Easter holidays.

By that time school attendance was thought to be as low as 30 per cent of all enrolled students in state schools.

Even the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had withdrawn his children from a NSW private school sometime between 9 March and 2 April 2020 and moved his family into The Lodge in Canberra.

Yet he continues to harangue the states and teachers for the distance learning policy put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These teacher expressed her frustration at his attitude and comments.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 April 2020, p.20:

I find Morrison's comments that parents are doing home schooling offensive. What they are doing is assisting their children in understanding detailed, highly formatted lessons that are linked to the curriculum in a way to make it interesting for students. This is not home schooling as parents did not plan and link the work to the curriculum. As a teacher I spent 12-hour days combing the internet for interesting activities and tying it all to the curriculum, as well as running video classrooms, answering student questions and emails. When students were still having difficulties I was calling home to speak to the children to see how to fix the problems. That's not child minding: that's delivering quality remote learning for our students. Give us the protective wear, cleaning products and non-contact thermometers to screen children and teachers will be happy to go back to classrooms. 

 Jennie Kidd, Campbelltown

Coronavirus: PM won't send his kids to school while it's just childminding ⁦⁦@ScottMorrisonMP⁩ stating the online learning we, as a profession, have been busting our nuts preparing & delivering for a month, amounts to childminding is a total insult https://t.co/fyc9n9jfxD

— Vicki Lodge (@Vickster762) April 16, 2020

Morrison continues to insist that public schools are safe places for children to be during a pandemic.

NSW schools that have no hot running water, frequently no additional cleaning equipment and a limited ability to impose social distancing.

Under those conditions teachers were rightly worried about the risk to their own health and that of their pupils.

On 17 April 2020 there were est. 121 COVID-19 cases in NSW where individuals' ages ranged between 0 and 19 years.

This is an excerpt from a NSW Dept of Health media release dated 9 April 2020 at which point est. 112 individuals in that age range were infected with COVID-19 in the state:

This is another excerpt from a NSW Dept of Health media release dated 4 April 2020, at which point est.101 individuals in that age range were infected with COVID-19 in the state:

With a royal commission having found that all major religions house and protect paedophiles we still find Liberal Party MPs seeking to extend the influence of priests & ministers in the Australian school system in 2018

The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 March 2018:

Dozens of federal Liberal MPs have reportedly signed a petition calling for a 25 per cent funding increase for the controversial National Schools Chaplaincy Program. 

Whether the budget can afford the funding increase or whether the money would be better spent elsewhere are interesting issues. The bigger legal issue is that the way the chaplains program operates is illegal…….

The High Court has struck down the chaplains program as illegal twice already. In 2012, the High Court ruled the program illegal because the federal government was paying for the chaplains program without any legislation authorising the spending. To overcome the High Court decision, federal Parliament quickly passed legislation to authorise the spending.

The chaplains program again was struck down again in 2014. Federal Parliament can only pass legislation dealing with certain subject matters. The High Court ruled that school chaplains do not fall within any of those.

To get around its own lack of power to run the chaplains program, the federal government now grants money to the states for them to run it. Lots of federal government programs operate this way with the states running programs on behalf of the federal government using federal money.

Getting a job as a chaplain requires a person to be recognised as qualified for the role "through formal ordination, commissioning, recognised religious qualifications or endorsement by a recognised or accepted religious institution". In other words, a person has to be religious and endorsed by a religious group in order to get a job as a chaplain. Atheists need not apply.

Individual schools pick which religion they want their chaplain to be a member of and then recruit a person from that religion for the job.

But it makes no practical sense to require a chaplain to have a particular religion. Chaplains are strictly prohibited from religious proselytising, although there are sometimes reports of chaplains breaking the rules. The High Court even commented that despite the religious sounding job title, the actual work chaplains do has nothing much to do with religion. Justice Dyson Heydon wrote that the work of chaplains "could have been done by persons who met a religious test. It could equally have been done by persons who did not".

In other words, there is no genuine occupational requirement for a chaplain to be a member of any particular religion or to be religious at all. The federal government has simply decided that it wants all chaplains to be religious.

Requiring a chaplain to be a member of a particular religion is inconsistent with the nature of public schools……

Requiring a chaplain to be a member of a particular religion is also illegal. Each state has anti-discrimination or equal opportunity legislation making it illegal to discriminate against a person on the ground of religion in employment decisions. These anti-discrimination rules apply to public schools and their hiring decisions.

Public schools cannot advertise a teacher’s job and require that only Hindus are eligible to apply. Public schools cannot advertise a cleaner’s job and require that only Baptists are eligible to apply. The reason is because that would be discrimination on the ground of religion in employment.

It’s exactly the same with chaplains. Requiring a chaplain to be a member of a particular religion is religious discrimination and completely illegal for public schools…..

The state anti-discrimination commissions should do something about public schools breaching religious discrimination laws. If they don’t, someone will eventually go to court and the school chaplains program will probably be ruled illegal for the third, and hopefully final, time.

When a secular public school goes bad......

The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March 2018:

Parents at a NSW public school say they have been left "horrified" after students were repeatedly placed in scripture classes against their parents' wishes and told they needed to have an interview with a deputy principal before they could attend non-scripture classes.

The NSW Department of Education is making inquiries into a letter sent to parents by the principal of Maclean High School in northern NSW, which strongly advocates for scripture classes and appears to breach the department's policy on religious education in several instances.

Parents also said students with written permission to attend non-scripture had been repeatedly put into scripture classes at the start of every year and parents were told to provide new notes, in breach of the department's policy.

"Updated permission is required each year for your child to access this arrangement [non-scripture]," states a form attached to the principal's letter, dated February 1, 2018.

"In addition, each student wishing to be exempt from SRE [special religious education] must arrange an interview with a deputy principal to discuss the above arrangements.

"NB: If the note above is not returned then the student will attend SRE."

The Education Department's SRE policy specifically states "students are to continue in the same arrangement as the previous year, unless a parent/caregiver has requested a change".

The department's director of early learning and primary education Rod Megahey also recently confirmed that students should be placed in non-scripture "if the parents/caregivers do not return the SRE participation letter", in a letter to the director of the Fairness in Religions in School (FIRIS) group sent in November last year.

One parent, who did not wish to be named, said there was "an inequality" in Maclean High's scripture policy.

"The kids who are attending SRE don't have to have an appointment with the deputy," the parent said.

"I just feel like my voice isn't being heard and my choices aren't being respected."

The parent said they were also shocked by the rest of the principal's letter, in which he strongly advocates for scripture classes.

"I highly recommend the opportunities provided by the SRE program," the letter stated.

"The potential to develop moral and ethical positions within a framework of Christian values should not be underestimated in today's world."

A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said: "The department is following up with Maclean High School in regards to their letter."…..

Maclean High School newsletters list Mr Greg Court as Principal with Mrs Gaye Kelsey and Mr Scott Dinham as Deputy Principals.

Maclean High School employs the Think Faith SRE curriculum.

On its website the school states:

Maclean High School is a district comprehensive secondary school servicing the educational needs of the entire Lower Clarence geographical area. The drawing area includes the towns and villages of Maclean, Yamba, Iluka, Brooms Head, Lawrence, Angourie, Harwood, Chatsworth Island, Palmers Island, Ashby and Tyndale. Approximately 65% of the school population is bused daily from outlying areas.
The school has a student population of 900 students with a complement of over 100 teaching and support staff. The staff are dedicated, experienced and stable. The school core values are FRESH, standing for FAIR, RESPECT, EFFORT, SAFE and HONEST. All that we do at Maclean High School can be linked to these values. [my yellow highlighting]

Such a pity it doesn’t live up to this boast.

Australian Education Minister out to bully the states under the guise of fixing Gonski education funding model?

On 23 September 2016 ABC News reported:

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham says he is not expecting to broker a final deal on the highly-charged school funding debate as he meets state and territory counterparts in Adelaide today.

Senator Birmingham yesterday attacked the Gonski funding model, which expires at the end of the next school year, saying it had been "corrupted" by a patchwork of individual deals with state governments.

"The Turnbull Government is determined to right this corruption," Senator Birmingham told the ABC's AM yesterday, vowing to "replace the special deals that Bill Shorten cobbled together ... with a new, simpler distribution model where special deals don't distort a fair distribution of federal funds".

Changes to the funding model involve altering federal legislation, and it is anticipated that the Commonwealth can make the changes without the agreement of the states.

When asked if he would push ahead with changes without state support, Senator Birmingham responded that he was "not looking for a result today".

"I'm looking for informed feedback and information from the states and territories," he said.

Another education ministers' meeting is scheduled for this year ahead of COAG discussions early next year. The funding changes are not expected to the finalised until after those consultations.

Senator Birmingham said he is expecting "robust discussion" from the education ministers, some of whom have said they were blindsided by the Senator's remarks.

South Australian Education Minister Susan Close said the first she knew of analysis of the Gonski model given to the media was when she heard Senator Birmingham on the ABC.

"It's extremely discourteous," she told AM this morning.

"We've had no paper presented to us and all we are left with is trying to glean what the proposition is by listening to programs such as yours.

"It seems what he's saying is just a recasting of 'we're not going to give you the money we know you need'."

The analysis highlighted disparity in per-student funding between the states thanks to a "patchwork" of 27 deals signed under the Gonski model.

But Ms Close told AM the Gonski model never envisaged full parity between states until its sixth year in 2020.

"The view that's being put forward through this study that somehow the disparity that occurs in the transition period is a reason to stop doing it at all is a view that will be firmly rebutted by all ministers," she said.

While waiting on the outcome of this “robust discussion” it is well to remember that, given the obvious pro-private schools bias displayed by Coalition federal governments, it is highly unlikely that the Turnbull Government intends to remedy this…….

Graph taken from http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/government-funding-for-private-schools-to-outstrip-average-public-schools-by-2020-20150714-gicdjt.html

Synopsis in Bonner & Shepherd’s Private school, public cost: How school funding is closing the wrong gaps 2015 report:

Recent trends in school recurrent funding strongly suggest that over forty per cent of students in Catholic schools next year will average as much, if not more, public funding than their peers in similar government schools. Two years further on an additional forty per cent will most likely join them. Half the students in Independent schools are on track to get as much, if not more, than government school students by the end of the decade.

This finding emerges as one of the most significant to date from our analysis of My School data. We have previously shown that changes in school funding in recent years – increasingly favouring students who are already advantaged - has done little for student achievement and nothing for equity. Earlier this year we pointed to a $3 billion overinvestment in better-off students, without any measurable gain in their achievement. Now we find that state and federal governments, within four years, will be funding the vast majority of private school students at levels higher than students in similar government schools. Concerns about funding equity should now be joined by concerns about effectiveness and efficiency in how we provide and fund schools.

The apparent runaway public funding of private schools is a legacy of discredited sector-based funding which the half-hearted implementation of the Gonski recommendations hasn’t really touched - and which current school funding schemes and dreams will almost certainly worsen. While Gonski pointed to the need to close the gaps in student achievement, the only gap being closed is that between government funding of its own schools and its funding of the schools that are considered to be "private". Private schools are about to operate at a far more substantial, and previously unimaginable, public cost.

In this report we illustrate how funding has changed and how familiar claims about the relative cost of schools have become obsolete and misleading. We address questions which arise about our schools: what is public, what is private, what should be the difference between them, what obligations do and should fully-funded schools have to the public which pays to run them? Such questions have to be answered if schooling is to provide access and equity combined with effectiveness and efficiency.

The Guardian on 23 September 2016 reported that Senator Birmingham’s NSW counterpart, Adrian Piccoli, is well aware of what his own party at federal level is intending:

The New South Wales education minister, Adrian Piccoli, has warned he will publish full results of commonwealth funding cuts in new school agreements which he says would increase funding to some of the most expensive private schools while cutting funds to public schools.

“We will be making it very clear which schools will win out of any new funding model and which schools are going to lose,” Piccoli told the ABC.

“And what they are proposing is public schools are going to lose money in NSW but continuing to index some of the most expensive private schools in Sydney and across Australia by 3%. That means expensive private schools go up a minimum of 3%.”

Australian Federal Election 2016: genes are destiny excuse

Journalist Jennifer Oriel in The Australian on 11 April 2016, putting the case for a two-tiered national education system where public schools and their 'dumb' students living in comparative poverty are offered less opportunity because genetics are allegedly destiny:

More punitive taxes and big spender social programs in education and health are central pillars of ALP plans for fiscal repair. The former is aimed at reducing the deficit Labor increased by squandering the proceeds of the mining boom. It wasted billions on cash splashes and social programs that have failed to achieve stated policy goals in improving educational and social outcomes. Now the party needs a scapegoat. The politics of envy provides an endless supply…..

Whether the object of envy is intelligence, talent, beauty, status or wealth, there is always a group that feels entitled to what nature or nurture did not provide. If they cannot take the envied trait or property by force, the envious seek to deride those who bear it.

As a unifying political device, the emotion of envy has few equals. In Australia, it finds social form in the tall poppy syndrome. Visitors to Australia long have remarked upon the darker side envy amplifies in our national character.….

Modern Labor began its campaign against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by sowing envy about his wealth and international investments. But the collective envy required to justify a circular regimen of Keynesian redistribution demands a collective target and policy goals that are always just out of reach, either because they are unattainable or conveniently unquantifiable. Equality of outcome is the substantive socialist solution.

While liberals support equal opportunity and formal equality, socialists engineer equality of outcome through policy prescriptions increasingly at odds with science. Labor’s education policy is a case in point. In a letter to school principals last week, Bill Shorten committed to redressing inequality by promising money the government doesn’t have to fund Gonski education reforms. Despite the sound aim of improving the educational outcomes of all children, at a cost of $37.3 billion, delivering the Gonksi policy through government inflicts a heavy toll on the taxpayer with doubtful return on investment. Numerous private companies provide high efficacy literacy and numeracy programs while decades of government-run interventions have had little impact in levelling educational outcomes. And recent research indicates the Gonski reform package, like numerous social programs before it, is unlikely to succeed.

Despite Labor’s education revolution and promises of substantive equality, vast differences in educational outcomes continue. The most recent research suggests a reason for inequality of educational attainment that should provoke a rethink of social and economic policy. Speaking on SBS’s Insight program, Brian Byrne of the University of New England revealed findings of soon to be published research with colleagues at the Centre of Excellence for Cognition and its Disorders. It indicates that genes are the most important determinant of maths and reading skills among schoolchildren. Their study of twins’ NAPLAN performance apparently found that maths, reading and spelling skills are up to 75 per cent genetic and writing skills are about 50 per cent genetic. The influence of schools and teachers, the focus of Labor’s policies, accounts for only about 5 per cent of performance.

Social psychologist Richard Nisbett was more hopeful in his assessment of the nature versus nurture debate in education. In Intelligence and How to Get It, he analyses research on various interventions to improve the educational outcomes of children from poor backgrounds. Some appeared promising, but many had only a modest impact whose effect diminished.

Recent research suggesting academic performance is substantially heritable challenges existing literature in which academics and politicians extol the benefits of government interventions to redress educational inequality. But it could be used constructively to drive policy reforms that provide greater choice in school and university education to cater to inborn differences…… [my red bolding]

There we have it in a nutshell - genes are destiny, a second-tier education system is advisable and anyone who suggests otherwise is suffering from pathological envy.

However, the journalist wasn't being as honest as possible concerning the views of Emeritus Professor Brian Byrne.

Here are two quotes from the answers he gave the Insight program moderator when questioned about that international twin study, which included twins from the Sydney area:

JENNY BROCKIE: This is what's genetic, what's inherited? 

PROFESSOR BRYAN BYRNE: What's genetic, for the NAPLAN varies between about 50 and 75 percent of the differences amongst children's performance can be traced back to genetic differences which leaves a fair bit for the environment…..

JENNY BROCKIE: And genes aren't destiny Bryan we need to make that very clear? 

PROFESSOR BRYAN BYRNE: That's right. 

Nor does the journalist specifically mention that Professor Dr. Richard Nisbett has formed a view that genetics matters less than differences in family environment and culture when it comes to intelligence and educational outcomes.

NAPLAN-type tests required for local education bureaucrat

Letters recently written to retiring teachers by a high level education department bureaucrat (let's call him "Ronald" for the sake of a name in this item) are the current topic at the water cooler in a couple of Clarence valley schools this week. Ronald forwarded letters to a number of long-serving staff and community members to congratulate them on their retirement and thank them for their years of service for public education in NSW.

Ronald's intentions, however noble they might have been, were seriously marred by a number of monumental stuff-ups. While Ronald probably managed to get the names and addresses correct, that's about as far as he got.

It seems Ronald had next to no idea who he was writing to or about. The list of errors included getting the positions and roles of the letter recipients wrong. So too, were their lengths of service. And, to cap things off, Ronald credited some with tasks and deeds they'd never performed and overlooked the real deeds they performed.

Postscript: Although Ronald had many things seriously wrong, the good deeds of those retiring from public education in the Clarence valley made definite and positive impression on their schools' communities. Well done retirees!

Maintenance in NSW public schools - it's a lottery

The new kid on the block in Macquarie Street, Chris Gulaptis (Member for Clarence), has been refreshingly honest (well, partly) in a piece that gives readers a distinct impression that he, rather than a staffer, prepared for a column "Chris Gulapris - Clarence MP" in this week's Coastal Views.

Gulaptis wrote about the government allocating $40m to its Public School Upgrade Fund.

BIG PROBLEM - Gulaptis didn't let on the time frame the $40m has to cover. In terms of what's needed to fully fund maintenance problems in NSW public school, $40m is just a drop in the bucket.

Now, to the "win-lose"scenario. Gulaptis said Casino High School "won "$70,000 to fix its roof.

Gulaptis's statement begs two questions:
1. What would have happened if Casino High School hadn't been so lucky with its lottery ticket?
2. What does the Local Member suggests other, not so lucky, schools do about their maintenance problems?

Is Gulaptis a real friend of public education or does he sing from O'Farrell's song sheet?

In TV ads promoting Chris Gulaptis as the Nationals candidate for Clarence Mr Gulaptis is seen standing near public schools. He sent his children to public schools and is quick to remind the electorate that he was the president of the Maclean High School Parents & Citizens Association.  

Mr Gulaptis should read Dick McDermott's letter to the editor of The Coffs Coast Advocate (see below) and then come out and tell the Clarence electorate where he really stands in relation to public education in November 2011.

Schools sold out

I've been a teacher for 38 years. I retire next year. I never believed I would see the day any State Government, be it Labor or conservative, would stoop to a level so low that they would hold their teachers to ransom rather than negotiate a new award which would allow wages to keep pace with inflation.

From January 1, 2012, public school teachers' salaries will be reduced annually unless they agree to measures that would relieve the government of the responsibility to fully fund the learning conditions of pupils in public schools.

Incidentally, there are no such conditions placed on teachers in private schools

What the latest O'Farrell legislation amounts to is asking the state's teachers, those who deliver the service, to finance the very service they are providing.

What the O'Farrell Government, of which local member Andrew Fraser is a member, is clearly doing is attempting to run down public education, the only education open to those most in need.

One in two people with children in public schools must have actually voted for Mr Fraser in the last election never having been told this was his agenda.

The O'Farrell Government is masking its deceit, attempting to hide this abrogation of responsibility by cloaking it in terms of what they call local autonomy.

By kidding parents that giving local school communities the choice to run their public schools the way they want, the government is slyly absolving itself of the responsibility to run our public schools the way they should be run.

This local autonomy push is a great "con" perpetrated by politicised bureaucrats and those who would be.

Don't fall for it mums and dads; it is yet another case of a national asset being flogged off or driven into the ground in the name of privatisation, but this time it will directly affect your kids.

Please see through the spin, join with teachers and resist.

Dick McDermott

Source: Letters, Coffs Coast Advocate, 5/11/11

Where does Andrew Fraser, Member for Coffs Harbour, stand on this matter?

A public school teacher in the Coffs Harbour electorate has challenged the local member in relation to the NSW government's hypocritical stance on teachers' salaries

I wonder if our local member Mr Andrew Fraser will be prepared to publicly condemn the teachers of our public schools for taking industrial action next week.

I ask this because I can get no answers as to why, on the eve of a very economically shaky service- cutting state budget, which follows legislation that will freeze all future public school teacher wage increases to below the rate of inflation and removes their access to an arbitration process, there is no such restriction on private school teachers.

I ask, because his supposedly cash-strapped conservative NSW State Government continues to allocate an amount of taxpayers' money each year to private schools which, depending on where they choose to direct it, would allow these schools to pay practically all the wages of their teachers.

I ask because his self-touted fiscally responsible government has imposed no restrictions on private school teacher unions seeking whatever wages they can obtain from their employers as well as assuring them continued access to the Industrial Relations Commission if they need to have their wage disputes arbitrated.

I reckon this is an injustice public school teachers must fight. It's utterly unfair and counter-productive and I'm sure most fair-minded readers would believe so too, or is this what our once egalitarian society has stooped to.

Dick McDermott

Source: Letters, Coffs Coast Advocate, 6/9/11