Session 08 – Andrew Blair, ASPA President

A National Perspective

Extra Paper: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Aaddress to the National Press Club on 27 August 2008 (78Kb pdf file).)

• The Issues: slide 3 gives a summary of the session:
  • The Education Revolution
  • Cooperative Federalism
  • The impact of COAG
  • The productivity agenda
  • Asia
  • Indigenous Australia
  • National Education Agreements

• Education Revolution – spin or substance? Seems to be a lot of spin at this stage – the gap is getting wider between the haves and have nots. You are stretched to deal with the social problems walking through the school gate every day.
• Chris Bonnor’s slide 5 – Australia’s funding system is an anomaly across the world. It is the only system that funds every school, yet we describe some of them as non-government. And it is the only one that has differentiated accountability requirements.

• Ken Davidson quotes on slide 6. Less than 1% increase in funding.

• Paul Kerin - slide 7 – "School funding is grossly inefficient and unfair."

• Main areas of underperformance are in the low socioeconomic areas. Large tail – can be mapped to postcodes. See the PISA results – Australia is a high achieving, low equity country.

• Kevin Rudd – 2000 quote about government schools - slide 8.
• Pie graph on slide 9 – ACER – previous quadrennium funding allocations.
• SES Review will happen in 2010/2011 – it is the formula that is used to fund systems and schools across the country. That is an election year. What will be the result?

• House of Representatives will get the Bill for the next funding quadrennium this week – the only schools mentioned in the Bill are the non-governments. $42 billion.

• ASPA is working with other groups to show the government that they have a responsibility to fund government schools properly.
• The real revolution – need a complete re-think about funding schools. 3 types of schools:
  • Government Schools: Funded as current and completely accountable.
  • Government Supported Schools: Receive Government funds, fees capped and completely accountable as per Government Schools.
  • Independent Schools: Receive no Government funds, require accreditation but are freed from any government accountability requirements.
• Result: see slide 12. Extra $400 million for funding government schools. Want the funding doubled for government schools. McMorrow Report calls for $2.9 billion immediately.

• Current revolution – major flagship programs:
  • $2.5 Billion: Trade Training Centres
  • $1.2 Billion: Digital Revolution – Computers in Schools
  • $577 Million: Literacy and Numeracy
  • $4.4 Billion: Education Tax Refunds - strongly supported by ASPA.
• Problems ahead:
  • Trade Training Centres: Bringing schools and industry together. Works in cities and large provincial towns. In rural Australia is it just a refurbishment program? Where are the teachers? Where is recurrent funding?
  • The Digital Revolution: 8 different state based procurement arrangements. Where is the watertight guarantee of funds for infrastructure and professional learning? We know for every $1 spent on hardware we need $3 for infrastructure and professional learning.
  • Literacy and Numeracy: The old ‘Voucher Scheme’ a significant failure. New Schemes: Intervention methods undecided.
• National Partnership processes – 27 August Rudd speech to the National Press Club. See slide 18 - improving the quality of teaching; making school reporting properly transparent; and lifting achievement in disadvantaged school communities.
• Curriculum will narrow and disadvantage will increase with league tables. Need accountability regimes. Value added schemes.
• The ‘like’ school myth – no evidence that it improves schools.
• Julia Gillard is not listening. The media will create league tables. Look at the UK and Victoria. See slide 19.
• Question of the audience – league tables or not? 84% = no.
• COAG – Low SES - slide 22. Agree that disadvantage needs to be dealt with. Don’t want another bureaucracy – money to the school. There must be no "top slicing" by state education departments. Decision will be made at COAG on December 18. it is a competitive process – will have to convince the government that it is worth doing this more than other departments’ submissions - this is a new way of deciding the funding allocations.
• Question 2 – education revolution or swimming. Close result.
• Mental health – huge issue - slide 24. Read the book “ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century” – Susan Greenfield. There will be 1 in 4 people with depression by 2020 - a major issue for schools. This week, ASPA, AHISA and CASPA will have a press release re per capita funding student and staff wellness. Funded for curriculum but not for wellbeing of the people in them. Corporate Australia needs to support it – why not the health insurance industry help with this?
• Question on slide 26 – mental health – 74% for $200.
• Teacher quality is one of the important and controllable components in assisting student achievement. Issues:
  • Performance pay – BCA Paper/NBPTS USA
  • Teacher supply
  • Teacher preparation
  • Standards and Accreditation
  • Ongoing professional learning
  • Support for and Preparation of School Leaders – The National Leadership and Development Framework
  • OECD Improving School Leadership Report.
• PA and TA are working together to develop the descriptors for the Standards. Need a development framework.
• Asia. It is up to Asia and Australia to build bridges together and understand each other. See slides 30-32 for some statistics.
• Current situation – decline in LOTE study. Not enough teachers to do it.
• Curriculum is still Eurocentric – geography and literature, etc.
• Australia's major trading partners are mainly Asian - Japan, China and Korea - India will join the top 4 list very soon.
• Recommend the 6 language policy. If we don’t guarantee teacher supply, language learning will go down still. Need cultural competence about Asia.
• For Asian languages in schools: $200 million by former government. $67 million by this government.
• Indigenous action: agreed national targets by COAG:
  • Universal access to early learning for all, in the year before formal school by 2013.
  • All Indigenous 4 year olds in remote Indigenous communities access to early childhood education within next 5 years.
  • Mortality rates gap for Indigenous children under 5 halved within the next 10 years.
  • Reading, writing and numeracy gaps for Indigenous children halved within the next 10 years.
  • Lift year 12 or equivalent attainment to 90% by 2020.
  • Year 12 or equivalent attainment gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous halved by 2020.
• Quadrennium funding – ASPA putting in advice to governments.
• Key partnerships – see slides 44-46 for the list of some of ASPA's partners.