School staffs show solidarity in rejecting A-E reports

By Wendy Currie

In a display of solidarity, about 1300 public schools in NSW have already determined that they "cannot and will not implement the governments' unacceptable reporting requirements".

Federation congratulates those schools, applauds their strength and determination and urges other schools to continue the debate. It puts the lie to departmental officials who have told individual schools that they are the only ones who will not be implementing the reports.

The last two weeks have seen some movement from principals' organisations in their position on the reports as well as a fair amount of media coverage, all of which is putting pressure on the State Government to accept that the voice of teachers must be listened to on an issue that is so fundamentally an educational one.

Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has made two announcements. First she made it clear that the NSW Government has taken a literal interpretation of the requirement to report students' achievement as an A-E, and that descriptive alternatives are indeed acceptable, thus supporting the position the Federation has taken from the beginning of this debate.

On the other hand she wrote to the State Government rejecting its proposal to remove years 1 and 2 from the requirements in key learning areas (KLAs) other than English and mathematics. The letter is such an astonishing display of arrogance towards her state counterpart that it beggars belief. It demands that Ms Tebbutt account for how the State Government will meet the Federal Government's requirements by October 5.

Unfortunately, the Department of Education and Training has been intransigent in negotiations and lodged a dispute notice with the Industrial Relations Commission on September 13.

In the negotiations, the Federation made it clear that, regardless of the outcome, schools must not be forced to implement new reports this year.

The Board of Studies has still not been able to produce work samples for every subject or KLA for every stage, the Department of Education and Training software is still not up and running, schools have not yet been notified that they now will have to report A-E achievements for KLAs other than mathematics and English in years 1 and 2, and professional development is all but nonexistent, but incredibly, in the midst of this shambles, the requirement remains that the new reports be produced for all students this semester.

It is becoming increasingly clear that implementation in other states and territories is as shaky and uncertain as it is in NSW. Reports suggest that ministers in each state are unaware of decisions they are individually making and communications they each receive from the Federal Government. They are not acting together in the way one might have expected of Labor governments, and therefore the strength of their numbers at the state level, the level which has the statutory responsibility for school education, is not being used in the interests of students.

The evidence that the reporting requirement is educationally unsound while its implementation is falling apart is growing at the same time as the resolve of teachers is strengthening.

Federation urges all teachers to continue with the strength of commitment that you have demonstrated so far and calls on the State Government to do all in its power to bring this dispute to an educationally sound conclusion that is in the best interests of the students.

Wendy Currie is a Research Officer.

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