Friday 17 May 2013

THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY and GONSKI

The Australian Labor Party wasted billions of dollars during the so called Building The Education Revolution. All we got were grossly overpriced buildings, many of which were not suitable and some never used. Millions were wasted on consultants and administration. Now they have the temerity to criticise Tony Abbott because he is wary of their further cash splash on an ill defined policy that is referred to as the Gonski Report.
In this report there is no discussion about how to achieve better teaching, better teachers or better outcomes just a mathematical formula for the distribution of money and a huge new public service department in Canberra to administer it.
There are many things wrong with the education of our children.
1 The quality of teachers has declined to a point where I have heard it said that some are bordering on illiterate.
2 The strangle hold on the education system held by the teachers union, abetted by the Union...oops Labor party, has to be broken. Education is not about them it is about outcomes for our children.
3 Head teachers should have more control over the teachers, standards and more say about what is required in their school.
4 The bureaucracy, red tape and duplication should be eliminated. Why does Canberra need a public service department of many hundreds when it does not even employ a single teacher.
5 Throwing money at the system has never worked in the past.
6 The curriculum must be looked at. Get rid of all the extraneous stuff and get back to core values.
7 Reporting on a child's progress needs to be changed. A report card that says, 'Met the standard' is meaningless. I want to know what score out of a hundred my child achieved and where he or she is placed amongst their peers.
Labor's past history in these matters should not lead anyone to trust them now.

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