Over the past few weeks, parents like me have been asking the Government to listen to them about their concerns for their childrens’ education.
Parents are worried about class-size increases as each school will be trying to make do with an average of two less teachers.
They are angry about the valued educational programs that will be cut. Programs likely to go include literacy, languages, music, art and PhysEd.
These are the very programs that help to keep children engaged when they have learning difficulties at school.
Music and PhysEd give children who struggle with maths and literacy a place to shine, a time at school where they can build up self-confidence and not always be the last to finish.
It seems these pleas have fallen on deaf ears, parents feel they have been treated with utter contempt.
Will Hodgman, Jeremy Rockcliff and Peter Gutwein are just repeating their mantra and playing the same tune “ Labor wrecked the budget,… it’s the unions fault,…we are spending a record amount on education”.
Parents are no longer fooled by this spin, the truth about the 5% has been revealed. $15,000 a year per school as part of the state’s Gonski commitment, a token gift given in one hand while their other hand fleeces our schools an average of up to $160 000 a year by cutting two teachers.
Will, if we still had a band program, perhaps even you could learn another tune.
Parents from Albuera St Primary have joined me in taking their protest out onto the streets.
They will be on the corner of Sandy Bay Road and Byron Street.
Parents are disappointed that they are not being taken seriously.
At 6.30 Tuesday night there will be a TASSO meeting at Campbell St Primary School. All parents of state school children are welcome to attend.
EARLIER …
• STATE EDUCATION, Will Hodgman: You are failing Tassie’s children. Letter from a 12-y-o …
Teresa O’Leary is the mother of two school-aged children … at South Hobart Primary and Taroona High.
• School nurse checks Will’s hearing
• Andrew Wilkie distributes hundreds of ‘no school cuts’ bumper stickers
• TASSO President Jenny Eddington: Proposal to break school funding crisis
• Terry Polglaze: TASSO pay freeze proposal
• Jean Walker, in Comments: I wrote this letter to the paper but it hasn’t been published: “There has been a great deal of brouhaha over the recent visit of the President of China but another interesting story might have been of the student I taught at a Tasmanian country high school (Huonville) who was given the opportunity to learn to play the viola as part of that school’s excellent music program. I have followed his career with interest. He went on to the Tasmanian Conservatorium, played with the TSO, was the recipient of a number of large scholarships, and a prizewinner at various international competitions. He studied under Jan Sedivka (Australia), Bruno Giuranna (Italy) and Garth Knox (France), as well as in Germany at the International Ensemble Modern Akademie. … I can’t help wondering if cuts had been made to the music program at that school, whether such an illustrious career would ever have eventuated” BTW – At the time, his mother was a low income single parent with no possibility of providing music lessons or instrument.
FRIDAY …
