Terry Polglase: Hodgman must stand against cuts to Tassie schools

The Federal Budget will see funding to Tasmanian public schools reduced in the first four years of Gonski and it fails to deliver on the critical years five and six.

“This budget is a hit to Tasmanian school communities and Premier Will Hodgman should have already stood up for this state, as he has pledged to do, and condemned these cuts to Gonski,” said Terry Polglase, AEU Tasmanian Branch President.

“Will Hodgman pledged to ‘stridently condemn’ any cuts to Gonski and to work to secure Federal Government commitment for the full six years.”

“The silence from Will Hodgman leading up to the budget announcements has disappointed the AEU. The Premier is on the record as saying his ‘word is his bond’ and from his election night speech he said “We will keep our promises, we intend to deliver on all those things that we have committed to Tasmanians no matter how challenging, and no matter how confronting they are.”

Premier Will Hodgman signed a Gonski pledge in February this year in which he committed to supporting Gonski in full, over six years. Included in the pledge (see reference below) was a commitment to “publicly and stridently condemn any cuts to Better Schools (Gonski) by the Federal Government.”

“Where is Will Hodgman?” said Terry Polglase.

“Where is Will Hodgman condemning this attack on our most vulnerable school communities and where is his public support for Gonski funding that is so critical to Tasmania’s future?”

“There is no issue more fundamentally important to the future of our community and our state’s economy than a first class public education system that gives every child, rich or poor, the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

The Federal Budget fails to honour the Gonski agreements beyond 2016/17 and that measure alone will take $160 million in school funding from Tasmania.

“This equates to three teachers now not able to be employed in years’ 5 and 6 in an average size school of 300 students. These are cuts that our Tasmanian schools cannot afford,” said Terry Polglase.

Tony Abbott’s Federal Budget has also short changed students with disability by failing to set aside the necessary additional funding for the promised “loading” for students with disability from 2015 and in August last year, federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne promised more funding for students with disability recognising the extent of neglect.

There are at least 100,000 students with disability missing out under the current system and it is estimated that an extra $2 billion is required to adequately support them.

Link to Will Hodgman’s pledge:
http://www.aeutas.org.au/Portals/0/Documents/Campaign/hodgman%20pledge%20gonski.pdf

The text of The Gonski Pledge

As state parliamentary leader of the Tasmanian Liberal Party, I commit to the following:

• Upholding the principles of the Gonski Review of school funding and to the continuing use of a needs-based system for distributing funding to schools that is in line with the School Resource Standard (SRS) funding model

• If able to form government after the March 2014 state election, during the life of that government, I will work to secure Federal Government commitment to funding years 5 and 6 of the Better Schools (Gonski) plan. My actions to achieve this Federal Government commitment will include a pursuit of the issue at COAG and directing my Education Minister to pursue it in Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood (SCSEEC) meetings.

• Any government led by me will, as a minimum, maintain the funding levels for education that would be required of it under the Tasmanian Gonski agreement — even if the Federal Government makes changes to its funding commitment. Furthermore, I will publicly and stridently condemn any cuts to Better Schools (Gonski) by the Federal Government.

• I commit to ensuring that the share of funding to public schools which would be available under the Better Schools (Gonski) funding approach will be guaranteed under my government along with the agreed levels of funding indexation, spelled out in the Tasmanian Gonski agreement.
Terry Polglase, AEU Tasmanian Branch President