❓ Opposition asks the Minister for Education to guarantee no further program cuts in public schools due to the upcoming budget. The Minister avoids a direct guarantee, emphasising school autonomy in resource allocation and asserting WA schools are the best-resourced in the nation.
AnsweredQoN 468Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
STATE
BUDGET 2014–15 — SCHOOLS
468. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Education:
Can the Minister for Education assure parents of public
school students that there will be no further cuts to programs at their schools
as a result of the budget on Thursday?
BUDGET 2014–15 — SCHOOLS
468. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Education:
Can the Minister for Education assure parents of public
school students that there will be no further cuts to programs at their schools
as a result of the budget on Thursday?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the
question.
I will not be commenting on the
budget at all. I will not be giving any guarantees about what the budget may or
may not contain, suffice to say that even if there were a significant increase
in funding, schools may make their own decisions about programs within their
actual school environments. They will get their pool of money; the one-line
budget will exist with the student-funded model and, if they decide that a
particular program may not go ahead, it is entirely up to the discretion of the
school to make that decision. That is the whole point of providing schools with
more autonomy so that they can —
Hon Sue Ellery : You t ake the capacity for them to recruit
away from them completely. There is no autonomy for IPSs right now.
Hon PETER COLLIER : What absolute nonsense! The member should
get across her portfolio.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Let us
hear the answer.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Dear, dear me! As I have said, schools will make a
determination. They will make a decision on what programs they run within their
school environments. I will continue to say that our schools remain the best
resourced of any state in the nation.
Hon Sue Ellery : You keep saying that.
Hon PETER COLLIER : The opposition may not like it, but it is
fact. Does Hon Sue Ellery disagree with that?
Hon Sue Ellery : N o one believes you.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Does Hon Sue Ellery say that the report on government services, which
is accepted by every other jurisdiction in the nation —
Hon Sue Ellery : Biggest cuts in 30 years of WA's
history.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Do you mind! Does Hon Sue Ellery want me
to answer her question or not? It seems we have a new way of doing question
time, Mr President. We get asked a question and the person asking the question
continues to debate while I try to answer.
Hon Sue Ellery : Nothing new about that.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Really! I forgot about Hon Ljiljanna
Ravlich.
The
PRESIDENT : Order! I was just thinking what an orderly, quiet,
civilised question time it had been today, having come back after a couple of
weeks. I do not want to explode the myth.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Thank you, Mr President. I will
repeat, even though probably the only person in Australia who does not believe
the report on government services is the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow
Minister for Education, it clearly shows that Western Australian students are
the best resourced students of any students of any state in the nation. In
addition to that, our teachers remain the highest paid of any teachers in the
nation. That is fact. The opposition can argue against it, but that is fact.
Even though the honourable member opposite does not agree
with it, she is manifestly wrong. Having said that, our schools remain
extraordinarily well-resourced, and if a school makes a determination on a
particular program, a project, a chaplaincy or a school psychologist, that is
entirely up to the school. I am abundantly confident that after Thursday our
schools will remain extraordinarily well-resourced.
question.
I will not be commenting on the
budget at all. I will not be giving any guarantees about what the budget may or
may not contain, suffice to say that even if there were a significant increase
in funding, schools may make their own decisions about programs within their
actual school environments. They will get their pool of money; the one-line
budget will exist with the student-funded model and, if they decide that a
particular program may not go ahead, it is entirely up to the discretion of the
school to make that decision. That is the whole point of providing schools with
more autonomy so that they can —
Hon Sue Ellery : You t ake the capacity for them to recruit
away from them completely. There is no autonomy for IPSs right now.
Hon PETER COLLIER : What absolute nonsense! The member should
get across her portfolio.
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Let us
hear the answer.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Dear, dear me! As I have said, schools will make a
determination. They will make a decision on what programs they run within their
school environments. I will continue to say that our schools remain the best
resourced of any state in the nation.
Hon Sue Ellery : You keep saying that.
Hon PETER COLLIER : The opposition may not like it, but it is
fact. Does Hon Sue Ellery disagree with that?
Hon Sue Ellery : N o one believes you.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Does Hon Sue Ellery say that the report on government services, which
is accepted by every other jurisdiction in the nation —
Hon Sue Ellery : Biggest cuts in 30 years of WA's
history.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Do you mind! Does Hon Sue Ellery want me
to answer her question or not? It seems we have a new way of doing question
time, Mr President. We get asked a question and the person asking the question
continues to debate while I try to answer.
Hon Sue Ellery : Nothing new about that.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Really! I forgot about Hon Ljiljanna
Ravlich.
The
PRESIDENT : Order! I was just thinking what an orderly, quiet,
civilised question time it had been today, having come back after a couple of
weeks. I do not want to explode the myth.
Hon PETER COLLIER : Thank you, Mr President. I will
repeat, even though probably the only person in Australia who does not believe
the report on government services is the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow
Minister for Education, it clearly shows that Western Australian students are
the best resourced students of any students of any state in the nation. In
addition to that, our teachers remain the highest paid of any teachers in the
nation. That is fact. The opposition can argue against it, but that is fact.
Even though the honourable member opposite does not agree
with it, she is manifestly wrong. Having said that, our schools remain
extraordinarily well-resourced, and if a school makes a determination on a
particular program, a project, a chaplaincy or a school psychologist, that is
entirely up to the school. I am abundantly confident that after Thursday our
schools will remain extraordinarily well-resourced.
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