STATE BUDGET FAILS TO REPAIR EDUCATION CUTS

The state budget is one of wrong priorities and missed opportunities which fails to repair the damage from previous savage education cuts, the AEU said today.

“It’s a bitterly disappointing budget of missed opportunities which fails to repair the savage cuts of last year,” said Terry Polglase, AEU Tasmanian Branch President.

“The Hodgman Government has squandered an opportunity to restore vital education programs in schools and replace the fulltime teachers cut from each primary school and each college,” he said.

“It will be cold comfort to parents that future budgets will return to surplus off the back the axing of school programs such as reading recovery, music, drama, and pathway planners.”

“The Government has failed to show leadership and reverse the teacher sackings, school funding cuts and program closures and our children’s’ education will continue to suffer as a result.”

Education initiatives aimed at tackling disadvantage, such as LIFT, contain little detail as to how they will operate or be funded and the AEU is seeking urgent clarification on a number of issues.

“The budget is big on education headlines but extremely light on details such as how programs will operate, be funded or staffed,” he said.

“We welcome any moves that tackle disadvantage but when they are in the context of a failure to reverse significant cuts significant then it begins to look like empty rhetoric,” he said.

There are also a series of questions about Gonski school funding which include allocation, transparency, negotiation and accountability measures.

“We know that Gonski money is meant to be additional funding to address need but the Hodgman Government’s failure to repair cuts makes it impossible to view this money as additional,” he said.

Capital works to schools are of course welcome but on what basis was the list determined?
Terry Polglase, AEU Tasmanian Branch President