STATE EDUCATION, Will Hodgman: You are failing Tassie’s children. Letter from a 12-y-o …

Premier fails maths test

On average, every school in Tasmania will lose 2 teachers but we are told that to offset this loss the Government has increased school resource packages by 5 per cent.

The average cost for a teacher is at least $400 a day, the 5% increase in the resources budget for my local school is $90 a day – this is a massive $710 a day shortfall if the schools try to fund these teacher positions from their discretionary resources package. In real terms this is a massive 45% cut to the school resources package.

Will, we’ve done the math and it still doesn’t add up, you are failing Tassie’s children.

The Liberals promised us in their Plan for a Brighter Future they would “invest in our children” by prioritizing education. What they are delivering is in fact a HUGE cut to education that is being hidden in statistics.

How does the Government justify this wholesale attack on the future of our children? Please explain Will.

I will stand at the Macquarie St end of the Southern Outlet between 8 and 8.45am every school day until end of term to expose the scale of these cuts and reveal actual dollar amounts.

I want the thousands of Tasmanian parents that are working hard to provide for their children to see how the Government is hiding behind spin.

I invite them to join me in letting this Government know that parents will not stop fighting until this Government finds a way to resolve the budget issues without threatening our children’s education.

• Stefan Stimson Taroona Primary School Association: Important Update Re NAPLAN 2015 at Taroona Primary School At last night’s Taroona Primary School Association meeting, the following motion was proposed and carried: “The TPSA encourage parents with children at Taroona Primary School to remove them from the 2015 NAPLAN testing in response to the Government’s unwillingness to negotiate in relation to the budget cuts” Why This Motion? This motion was proposed in direct response to the State Government’s public declarations that it will no longer negotiate with the state teachers/AEU, will not consider alternatives to axing 266 frontline staff and insists “the caravan has moved on”. We firmly believe that this is not the case and that the teachers/AEU want to continue negotiations and reach a settlement. Furthermore, this is what the parents of our school want as this is in the best interest of all state schools and all state school children.

• Chris B, in Comments: I will decide who I pay my power bill to. I will not pay it for Will to will it to Forestry, I would rather it be willed to Education. I will further reduce my power account by more efficiencies. I will decide which Liberal Lied the Most Mr Abbott or Mr Will Hodgman.

• Letter from Zhana Stojcevski (age 12): Dear Mr Hodgman,

My name is Zhana Stojcevski and I’m in grade six at Blackmans Bay Primary School.

When my dad explained to me the cuts that were being made to my school I was appalled.

The cuts are likely to lead to the cancellation of the woodwind program, literacy support and extra curriculum activities.

My school community will also lose 1.4 teachers. I have been a part of the woodwind program for two years and it gives me great understanding of beats, counting and rests.

The woodwind program at my school is giving students great opportunities and to take that away is outrageous. When I grow up I want to be a teacher and knowing that I may have to move to the mainland and leave my home to get a job is very disappointing.

Next year my school will be losing 1.4 teachers and this is devastating.

By losing teachers this will mean increasing class sizes and possibly risking students getting less attention and most likely falling behind. Blackmans Bay Primary School will also lose literacy support so the children that fall behind will not have the support and private lessons they need to reach their full potential.

In 2015 the Education Department is cutting extra curriculum activities.

My old school, Princes Street Primary School had few extra curriculum activities but every extra curriculum lesson at my new school benefits me from languages to physical education. These subjects benefit every child from kinder to grade six.

This issue really speaks to me but not in a good way; this issue angers me, to think that some of my great teachers will lose jobs and all the children will lose opportunities.

Kind regards,

Zhana Stojcevski (age 12)

• Lisa Schimanski, Chair, Albuera Street Primary School Association

Dear Parents,

At last night’s Albuera Street Primary School Association meeting, the following motion was proposed and carried:

“The Albuera Street Primary School Association encourage parents with children at Albuera Street Primary School to withdraw them from the 2015 NAPLAN testing in response to the Government’s unwillingness to negotiate in relation to the budget cuts.”

Why This Motion? This motion was proposed in direct response to the State Government’s public declarations that it will no longer negotiate with the state teachers/AEU, will not consider alternatives to axing 266 frontline staff and insists “the caravan has moved on”. We firmly believe that this is not the case and that the teachers/AEU want to continue negotiations and reach a settlement.

Furthermore, this is what the parents of our school want as this is in the best interest of all state schools and all state school children.

What does this motion mean? The school association cannot and will not force any parent to remove their children from the NAPLAN testing program and we will always respect the right of parents in this regard. However, we do strongly encourage parents next year to consider formally withdrawing their children from the NAPLAN testing program. We will provide you with the necessary information / updates as the May testing date for grade 3,5 and 7 approaches next year so that you can make your decision at that time.

Why do this? We believe that the Government’s budget cuts are outright wrong, unqualified and will be highly detrimental to our school and other state schools across Tasmania and they will have a negative impact on the educational outcomes provided to our children. We, along with thousands of others, have voiced our concern to the Government and have been told that they are not interested in listening to us nor will they enter into any further negotiations. Therefore we need a decisive way to use our voices as parents and bring them to the table is to take this action. By removing thousands of children across Tasmania from the NAPLAN results, the national dataset will be rendered worthless in respect to its chief aim – facilitating a comparative evaluation of student performance nationally – and this action is therefore more likely to give this dire issue a profile at the Federal level and re-enforce our firm opposition to the planned cuts.

Why is the School Association doing this and not the teachers? The teachers are not allowed to suggest this action, promote this action nor prevent our children from attending NAPLAN tests – we respect this. The only people that can make this decision are the individual parents of each child, who have the right to withdraw our children from testing. The school association, remembering that it is made up of every parent of the school, provides the critical mass to make this protest worthwhile and to get our voices listened to.

What about monitoring my own child’s progress next year? There are lots of tools already in place at school that our wonderful teachers use to monitor our children. NAPLAN is just one tool, (that has only been in place for four years) of course with the added benefit of being able to compare across the country. We believe that the teachers at our school will fully support us in our actions to support them and will be happy to provide continued and additional feedback on our children’s progress (some would argue that this is more relevant anyway).

Will the teachers stop teaching towards / preparing our children for NAPLAN? No. No. No. The teachers are obligated to teach to the Australian Curriculum and will continue to do so. We don’t want any action that we take to have a negative effect on our children and therefore we will obviously support this. By continuing to prepare for NAPLAN, all children are still learning the Australian Curriculum; and it allows parents to decide in May whether or not to remove their children at that stage to take the NAPLAN tests. It also prepares all of the children should the government finally listen to the community and negotiate a settlement.

But isn’t the removal of NAPLAN testing a potential negative effect on my child? This is not ideal, and most parents would prefer to be able to also compare our children’s and school’s performances across the country however the impact of fewer teachers / support staff, increased class sizes, more composite classes and reduced program offerings at our school will have a far more wider-reaching negative effect on our children. There are no State or Federal funding implication related to NAPLAN testing.

What about other schools? This motion was first proposed and adopted by the Taroona Primary School Association and has been forwarded to other school associations and the TASSO (Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations Inc.). Many school associations are now considering the proposal and we believe that TASSO will table it at their emergency meetings across the state starting next week (Southern Meeting: 9th Dec at Campbell Street PS @ 6.30pm – All Welcome). We hope that other schools also adopt this motion so that we can try and make the government listen to the community.

What outcome do we want? We still want the government to re-enter negotiations with the teachers/AEU. If they cannot resolve the differences between the two parties, we want them to engage an independent body to arbitrate and accept their findings.

What do I tell my child? You are probably already having / or soon will have discussions with your children on the changes at school, especially when they become aware of their teachers leaving the school and support staff being removed from class. Each child is an individual and you are the one best qualified to know how much to tell them. Please remember that removing your child from the testing is not compulsory, you don’t need to finally decide until May and whatever decision you make now or in May, this doesn’t affect what or how your child is taught at school.

More Information / Any Questions? We hope that the above information is helpful in understanding the rationale behind this motion and gives you some answers to any immediate questions. If you have any concerns about this at all, or would like to seek clarity, please don’t hesitate in contacting the undersigned. I and other members of the School Association will be available to talk with parents on Friday 5 Dec from 2.45 pm outside the Canteen and at the Christmas Carols on Thursday 11 Dec.

Sincerely,

Lisa Schimanski
Chair, Albuera Street Primary School Association