Special education classes under attack

By Ted Kenny and Angelo Gavrielatos

Federation has called on Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt to stop the closure of special classes and to provide a guarantee that no student will be forcibly integrated into a mainstream class.

The union authorises school staff to take immediate industrial action in response to the rationalisation of needed special education classes which lead to any proposal to forcibly integrate a student. Where this occurs, surrounding schools are called on to take coordinated action in solidarity with schools taking industrial action.

The forced integration of students has the potential to compromise the wellbeing of all concerned. Not only will the educational wellbeing of the child being forcibly integrated be compromised as a result of being removed from a smaller class with a specialist teacher and resources, the educational wellbeing of every other child in the regular class will be compromised as a result of the teacher being forced to spend a disproportionate amount of her/his time addressing the needs of the integrated child. As a result of the associated workload and stress, the health and safety of the teacher is also compromised.

In August 2004 the then Minister for Education and Training Andrew Refshauge announced that every special education class would be staffed with a teacher's aide. An additional $15.6 million would employ about 660 teacher's aides over three years.

The announcement was long overdue recognition by the Government of its responsibility to provide a safer teaching and learning environment. However, the announcement was not fully funded. The shortfall in funding was to be found in reducing the number of special education classes and by an increase in class size for some classes.

The first phase of this three year program commenced this year. All ED, BD and autism classes have been staffed with a teacher's aide. However, the maximum class size rose from six to seven students. The change in class size could have resulted in the loss of approximately 60 classes state-wide.

A political campaign highlighted geographical complications in addition to education concerns. This campaigning exposed that affected students in a special class in country towns would have to travel hundreds of kilometres before they would be able to have their needs met in another special education class. The campaign was able to reduce that potential loss of 60 classes to a total loss of seven special education classes this year. The total loss of seven classes was part of an annual establishment and disestablishment process that occurs with special education classes. The classes were not emotionally disturbed (ED), behaviour disordered (BD) or autism classes.

The second phase of this announcement will be implemented in 2006. Next year all intellectually moderate (IO), physical, hearing and intellectually mild (IM) classes will be staffed with a teacher's aide special. (The program will be completed in 2007 with a teacher's aide special being placed on all the remaining special education classes in special schools.)

Whilst there is to be no change in IM class size, this is not the case for IO, physical and hearing classes. IO classes would go from a maximum of nine to 10, physical classes from a maximum of eight to nine and hearing classes from a maximum of seven to eight. The result of this change in class size could be the loss of primarily 72 IO classes. (It is important to note that over the course of the past 12 months, an additional 116 special education classes, mainly IO, IS, IO/IS (intellectually severe), ED, BD and autism classes, have been established.)

In addition to above mentioned issues the Department of Education and Training (DET) has also telegraphed changes to the IM program. There are currently 422 teachers allocated to IM classes across the state. The DET has proposed to allocate a teacher's aide special on only 311 of these classes, proposing that the remaining 111 teachers deliver integrated IM programs. In the main, during 2006, these integrated programs will continue in the schools where the teachers are currently located.

253 out of 422 IM "programs", approximately 60 per cent, do not operate as discrete classes. The figure is almost 80 per cent in two regions. The occupancy rate for IM classes is approximately 70 per cent. Approximately 100 IM classes have 10 students or less.

Federation will continue to take all available measures to protect the existing employment conditions and rights of members affected by the DET/Government proposals.

Ted Kenny is a City Organiser and Angelo Gavrielatos is the Senior Vice President.

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October 2005 contents