No more money for schools

but plenty for fat cats

Whilst schools struggle and beg for resources to address the urgent educational needs of students, the number of 'fat cat' bureaucrats in the Department of Education and Training continues to grow and grow.

The DET restructure announced some 12 months ago was intended to "streamline the bureaucracy" and provide more "frontline" support for schools and colleges.

On 17 November, in response to the Auditor General's report, and in an attempt to further dress up the 60 - 70 million dollar budget cut which has driven the restructure of the Department of Education and Training, the Minister's press release states "under the new education department restructure administrative processes have been streamlined to enable more efficient delivery".

Within a period of just over 12 months the number of Deputy Director General (DDG) positions has increased from four to six, an additional two positions paid in the order of $260,000 each and the number of Assistant Directors General has increased from four to twelve, an increase of eight positions paid in the order $230,000 each.

If the Director General is included, potentially more than $5 million per year is locked up in this group of bureaucrat salaries.

Further, despite claiming that the restructure would also put teaching and learning at the heart of the Department's operations, the positions of Director of Primary Education and Director of Secondary Education have been abolished and replaced by a "Director of Strategic Initiatives," whatever that means.

The "streamlining" of the Department of Education and Training has been funded by reducing direct support for schools as a result of the reduced number of expert teachers "teaching consultants" who provide assistance to schools for the development of programs to assist students.

In the words of a Principal from Mount Druitt "They have sucked out the little oxygen left in front line support for schools. This will do nothing for morale in schools."

Whilst the Minister and the Department hold steadfastly to their mantra that there is no more money in the budget for schools, finding money to increase the number of fat cat bureaucrats is not a problem.

Public Schools are to be congratulated for continuing to do the wonderful work for their students despite the continually imposed "streamlining" by the Department of Education and Training.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005