Theme: “Public education — a national priority”

Few national resources could be more important to the well being of our society than public spaces dedicated to learning. A public education system that is open and available to all strengthens democracy by realising individual aspirations in the context of public values concerning equality, social justice and the greater good. As the cornerstone of a socially cohesive, culturally vibrant and economically prosperous Australian society, a public education system of the highest quality is a national priority.

As teachers we believe that education has a broad role in preparing young people to participate in society, in the body politic and in economic life. The society we live in is not equal. Federation must continue to challenge such inequalities and help teachers and students to work towards constructing a more just society.

Only public education has the capacity to be transformative for individuals, communities and society. Only public education builds the capacity of communities and the nation. Public education should not recognise class, privilege or rank. Our public schools and TAFE colleges are also essential for the freedom of religion and individual belief that characterises Australia's society.

The Coalition's "anti-public, pro-private" policies in education and other social policy areas are driving increasing inequality in society and exacerbating resource pressures on the public system. In contrast Federal Labor has placed a high priority on its "education revolution". However, the emphasis the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, has placed on education as a national economic investment reflects a "human capital" approach. It also fails to recognise the qualitative differences between public and private education.

Conference notes the analysis by Ross Gittins, economics editor of the Sydney Morning Herald that the "education revolution" no one wants to talk about is the one where the Federal Government is "quietly moving to a position where they look after the private schools and leave the public schools to the states" (May 23, 2007). It is the Federal Government, however, that has the constitutional capacity to raise the greatest amount of revenue. Federal Government under-funding of public schools and TAFE colleges is a national disgrace.

National funding claims

The Australian Education Union's TAFE claim is for 6 per cent increased funding over the next four years to meet projected needs in vocational education and training. That amounts to an additional $1550 million by 2011.

Cooperative federalism would see the federal and state governments, regardless of political persuasion, revise Commonwealth/State funding arrangements and set targets for increased resources to public education. Instead John Howard and the Federal Education Minister, Julie Bishop, have adopted coercive federalism as their modus operandi. Their latest threat is contained in the Federal Budget papers this year. State governments are to, in effect, remove job security and impose "performance" pay for teachers or federal funding will be withdrawn. The result will be a fragmented public education system and the loss of a curriculum guarantee for every student. In broader terms, the recent Federal Budget creates an illusion of prosperity and economic confidence that masks a deeper vulnerability in Australian society.

Federal Coalition Government

• a systemic failure to resource and support Aboriginal students in public education coupled with the deliberate destruction of Aboriginal self-determination
• support for vouchers in education
• the manufacturing of a perceived crisis in public education based on blatant lies by Federal Coalition members about the values, curriculum and standard in public education
• massive and disproportionate increases in the share of federal funding sent to private schools
• promoting private providers at the expense of the TAFE system
• propagation of particular religious beliefs in schooling
• blatant attacks on the collective and collegial nature of the public education teaching force
• chronic under-funding of TAFE
• using the threat to withdraw funding to force states and territories to implement the Federal Government's industrial relations agenda.

The changes made in the delivery of education during the 11 years of the Howard Government have been based on three fraudulent propositions. These are that there is a crisis in Australian education; that markets in education will improve student achievement; and that school choice is an option for all families. Fundamentally, under Howard there has been a public policy disavowal of the value of public education.

John Howard's government pursues such education policies:

• to pursue an ideological commitment to reducing the role of government;
• to entrench social privilege and social hierarchies in access to education;
• to establish greater control over what is taught in schools so as to eliminate challenges to conservative views about society; and
• to reduce the influence of teacher unions in education policy and working conditions.

In addition to their iniquitous funding policies, John Howard and his Ministers are shamelessly misrepresenting the state of schooling in Australia. In Australia the proportion of students achieving expected outcomes is much higher than they purport. However, OECD data demonstrates that "Australia has above-average inequality in student performance for socio-economic groups".

It is clear that the promotion of choice and markets in schooling is not consistent with the achievement of greater equity, nor is it a responsible underpinning for planning and resourcing education at the national level.

Federal election

The most damaging force in Australian political life today is the Howard Government. Its sustained attack on public education and the rights of working people continues to threaten the notion of a "fair go" for all Australians.

To bring an end to the Howard Government's divisive policies requires political change in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Only half of the Senate seats are up for election so it is essential that the parties holding the balance of power are advocates for public education and collective action in industrial relations.

The ALP has pledged to invest more money in schools "on the basis of need and fairness". ALP policy currently recognises the important role of TAFE, but as yet no commitment has been made to increase funding for TAFE.

However, in a move that continues to expose a contradiction on the part of the ALP's commitment to "needs based funding" the ALP again sought to reassure and appease the private school lobby by re-stating that the ALP would not take away any money from private schools. This is despite the fact that private schools are operating with resources which exceed a national resource standard. Indeed, private school funding would continue to be indexed to reflect the increase in costs incurred by government to educate students in public schools even when there is absolutely no justification to do so.

Ultimately, the ALP's commitment to public education will be measured by the level of additional funding it proposes to allocate to public education.

All Opposition parties are calling for a change of government.

Federation will urge all members to campaign against, and put the Coalition last at the ballot box. Federation will place a particular emphasis on the critical role of the Senate and the potential for the Greens to hold the balance of power. To date the Greens have the best policy of all political parties in respect of public education.

Federation will continue to lobby Opposition parties to make clear in their federal election policies:

• a priority commitment to the provision of public education and training
• a major ongoing investment in funding and resourcing public schools and TAFE colleges
• breaking the nexus in funding between public and private schools which guarantees a flow-on of resources to private schools
• a rejection of vouchers as a means of funding education
• provision at state and federal levels of planning mechanisms for the establishment and/or expansion of private schools in order to stop wasteful duplication of resources including the development of an "Educational Impact Statement" which would assess the impact of new private schools on existing public schools
• that public education can be funded from budget surpluses.

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Last Modified: 30 Aug 2007