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PUBLIC EDUCATION VOICE September
2004 SPECIAL
EDITION - FEDERAL ELECTION OCTOBER 9 MAKE
YOUR VOTE COUNT FOR THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION! |
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Contents Editorial Welcome
to the fourth edition of Public Education Voice for 2004. This edition is
devoted to exploring some of the school educational issues that voters should
consider when voting on October 9. Recipients of the Newsletter are
encouraged to pass it on to parents in your school community. Feel free to
copy any part of it (with appropriate acknowledgement) for your principal and
teachers, as well as parents. Click on the link to visit www.acsso.org.au |
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President's Column Parents
should not be complacent, and assume that all parties equally support public
education. We need politicians to stand up and say that a strong public
education system is a cornerstone of a vibrant, tolerant and egalitarian
society. In such a society, values such as co-operation, mutual respect and
honesty are developed in public schools, because of their inclusive policies.
ACSSO
believes that governments should support public education so that it can
become so good that it is the first choice for parents. We are especially
concerned that the language of the present government has tended to denigrate
public education as a value-free, second rate choice for parents. In
the 2004 election campaign, ACSSO is loooking for the following commitments
from candidates and their parties: 1.
A standing and long term government commitment to appropriate funding and
support for the public education system. 2.
A commitment that all Australians are provided with equal opportunites to
develop their skills and talents to the utmost of their potential. 3.
Support and respect for the value that public education adds to society as a
whole. Conversely, it is important that voters reject any political candidate
who implies that only a private education system is able to provide a "good
education". 4.
The next Federal government should promote the the notion that because of its
moral and financial support, public education should be the most attractive
choice for parents. 5.
A commitment to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in public
schools. 6.
A commitment to ensure that parents are looked upon by schools as partners in
the education of their children, and provided with significant roles in
school governance and decision-making. Your Say Why Public
Education? "Nations prosper when they
utilise and encourage the talents of all their citizens" ACSSO Strategic Plan 2004 |
Former Education Minister Dr Kemp
writing in "The Age" 13 September says: "It may be uncomfortable for those
on the ideological left to acknowledge the fact, but the funding system
established by the Howard Government for non-government schools is
needs-based, with the highest levels of support per student going to the
schools attracting the poorest families, and the lowest to schools drawing
students from the most well-to-do families". ACSSO Comment:
This is untrue. The SES system does not measure the individual wealth of
families. Dear Madam/Sir
I am a staunch defender of public
schools and a vigorous critic of the grossly unfair SES system which Dr Kemp
claims as his brainchild. I have two children attending public
school in NSW. I have also been employed as a
copywriter in advertising agencies for over 24 years now. As such, I can
hardly be described as a leftwing or proto Marxist ideologue. I believe strongly in market forces
and choice in business and the economy. However, as a practitioner at the
coal face for so long, I do not have the same faith in market forces when it
comes to our children's opportunities as some of our politicians and
academics seem to have. For our democracy and our free enterprise
system to operate as they should, all our children need access to excellent
educational opportunities. A funding system based on the incomes of the
neediest families in an area, the very families who could never afford to
send their children to the school in question, can only have the opposite
effect. It is a Robin Hood system in reverse, in fact. Moreover, you cannot talk about
competition or market forces when only one system is asked to shoulder the
responsibility for compulsory education. Such double speak in the real world
of business competition would be seen for what it is; anti-competitive and
unfair. Yours Sincerely |
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EDUCATION POLICIES |
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Make Education an Issue for October 9 ACSSO Election Kit Section
A. Questions for all Federal election candidates and their political parties If
your school parent community wishes to use the election kit, contact your
state parent organisation for further advice and assistance. A few notes are
provided immediately below and the entire Section A, Questions for all
Federal election candidates and their political parties is reproduced in the
next section of the Newsletter. Notes for using
the election kit
Each
State and Territory affiliate is free to distribute direct to any of its
members and may adjust the information according to the situation that
prevails in their State or Territory. The
Question and Answer section has been tested with representative groups; this
section has been written partly on the basis of their responses. The
ACSSO Secretariat has reviewed material from past Federal elections and, as a
consequence, has tried to focus on the key issues rather then a wish list
which politicians can generally ignore. The
Question and Answer section, in particular, can be used for media interviews
or releases. Please
feel free to contact the ACSSO Secretariat if you want to discuss issues such
as subject matter and distribution. |
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ACT Council of
P&C's Unsubcsribe
Notes on the seven
questions to candidates and parties In relation to questions 1 to 6 at right,
candidates/parties are invited to submit a 30 word statement for each one to
expand on their yes/no answers. Question 7 is more open-ended, and candidates
are invited to submit a 150 word statement to support their position.
Note: The Democrats,
Greens and Labor all believe that the the SES funding system in its present
form should be abolished, because it directs funding away from the schools
that need it most. The Coalition believes that this system enhances parental
choice of schools, and therefore should be retained.
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Questions for Federal Election
Candidates These questions can be sent to all
candidates in your State or Territory. ACSSO has sent this set of questions to
the Federal Education Minister, Shadow Minister and education spokespersons. QUESTION 1 QUESTION 2 QUESTION 3 QUESTION 4 QUESTION 5 QUESTION 6 QUESTION 7 YES ? NO ? |
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Election comment authorised by
Judith Bundy, Cnr Kent and Groom Streets, Hughes, ACT 2605 End of Newsletter Top |
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