Federal Election 2007

The Australian Council of State School Organisations is a non-party political body but yesterday's events in western Sydney are so disgraceful we feel compelled to intervene in this election.

The Australian Council of State School Organisations condemns the disgraceful distribution of racist and deceitful election brochures by a group connected to outgoing Liberal member for Lindsay Jackie Kelly.

Jenny Branch, President of ACSSO

The letter was a fake brochure supposedly coming from (a non-existent) Arab organisation which tried to portray Labor as soft on the Bali Bombers.

The Council in particular condemns the reaction of Ms Kelly who, when confronted, simply described the organised letter drop involving her husband, a Liberal Party State executive member and others as a "bit of a skylark".

We do not accept this excuse and warn all political parties that over 2 million public school parents are opposed to these types of dirty tricks. We want our children to grow up with a respect for democracy and a commitment to a fair go for all, regardless of the race or creed we belong to.

Respected Nine Network journalist Laurie Oakes described the fake letter as a filthy disgraceful forgery and said people using religion and race to try and divide a community or election is just disgusting. The Sydney Daily Telegraph editorial went further and said a more disgraceful lie, a more profound attack on democracy is difficult to conceive.

ACSSO is supported by other parent groups who want values taught in our schools and believe that our young people should understand that democracy works if political parties campaign within fair guidelines.

Lies and forgeries like the letters in Lindsay undermine not only our democracy but teach our kids that winning at all costs, including racist lies is ok. Ms Kelly, we do not think lying and forgeries are ok. You should apologize.

We also warn all candidates that our 2 million plus members will be watching to warn voters if such dirty tricks continue in any electorate during the last stages of this campaign.

A Guide For Parents

ACSSO represents the parent bodies across Australias 7000 public schools. As the peak council, we have asked those parties capable of forming Government to respond to a series of questions. The questions are brief and to the point, not a wish list that we know the parties cannot deliver in an election environment.

In particular, ACSSO was interested in what the parties would do about:

general issues such as school funding

making sure ACSSO and its affiliates were genuine partners in delivering the best education to Australias public school students.

In relation to the last question, the proposed Family-School Bureau is seen as the most important way to build that partnership between Government and parents. The Bureau would:

resource ACSSO to provide research and assistance to those schools which wanted to bring parents and schools closer together and

provide valuable research about parents, schools, curriculum and other key factors in the education of our next generation

provide research and advice to the Australian Department of Education Science and Training, advice which reflects the needs and viewpoints of Australias families.

ACSSO Editorial

Public Schools Must Be the First Commitment of Government

Representing the parents and students in Australias 7000 public schools, ACSSO naturally is keen to ensure that Governments are committed to the wellbeing of their own schools.

So we have looked at the education policies of both parties and tried to find evidence of that primary commitment to the public education system.

At the outset, let us say that ACSSO believes that all the money that is currently being directed through tax hand-outs is not the right way to bring our education system into the 21st century.

The $2 billion a year promised in educational tax cuts should be aggregated and directed to improving the training and support for quality teachers and providing information technology for our public schools. Both major parties have fallen into this tax cut contest.

We were not impressed with the Howard Governments announcement of a tax rebate (voucher system) for fees to private schools. Although the amount is currently small the precedent for directly subsidizing private school fees has now been set.

If the Howard Government is re-elected, you can expect both parties to offer an increase in that fee subsidy every election.

PUBLIC EDUCATION VOICE

Federal Election 2007

Election Scorecard

A Guide For Parents

ACSSO Editorial

Public Schools Must Be the First Commitment of Government