❓ Opposition questions Premier on education funding cuts, linking them to the Teese report. Premier defends the changes, citing increased overall funding and enrolment growth, and argues for a redistribution of resources based on student needs.
AnsweredQoN 449Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EDUCATION
RESOURCES — TEESE REPORT
449. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the links the Premier has made to the Teese report
as justification for his government's savage cuts to school funding and
staffing.
(1) Where in the Teese report does
it advocate such extreme measures?
(2) Is the
Premier aware that Professor Teese himself has questioned whether schools will
be able to manage a new funding regime if resources are cut?
(3) Why will
the Premier not admit the fact that these cuts have nothing to do with the
Teese report and all to do with his financial mismanagement?
RESOURCES — TEESE REPORT
449. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the links the Premier has made to the Teese report
as justification for his government's savage cuts to school funding and
staffing.
(1) Where in the Teese report does
it advocate such extreme measures?
(2) Is the
Premier aware that Professor Teese himself has questioned whether schools will
be able to manage a new funding regime if resources are cut?
(3) Why will
the Premier not admit the fact that these cuts have nothing to do with the
Teese report and all to do with his financial mismanagement?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I remind the Leader of the Opposition that education funding for the coming
year has gone up by $300 million—over six per cent. Indeed, this
government holds the record for increasing education funding by more than 50 per
cent in the past five years. The number of students in our schools has
increased by 22 000 under the coalition, compared with virtually no enrolment
growth when Labor was in power.
Several
members interjected.
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Look at the numbers, my friend; they are as flat as a tack! The Liberal–National
Parties come in and the enrolments go up. Why? It is because we funded schools.
We introduced independent public schools —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members, the Premier is being drowned out.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : The report by Professor Teese of the University of Melbourne
recognised that the funding system for schools in Western Australia had become
outdated. Schools were being funded on what they were doing, rather than on the
number and needs of their students. We are therefore making a decision. It will
have some adverse consequences for some schools; it will also have some very
positive consequences for others.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : We will maintain the total number of teachers as essentially
constant through the coming year, we will rebalance the distribution of
teachers, and teachers will go to where the students and the needs are. It is a
fact that upper secondary teachers in many schools have classes of six, seven
or eight students. Is that fair in education? No, it is not. The teaching
resources therefore will go to where the students are—in the context of
an overall $300 million increase in the education budget. In addition —
Mr
D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : I feel sorry for our friends from Saskatchewan. They come
from a civilised country and a civilised Parliament, and they must be thinking
the bears are loose, running down from the Rockies!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members! Member for Mandurah!
Mr C.J. BARNETT : That is the situation with education
resources. We have announced other changes, including reducing the number of
education assistants, which has grown out of control over a number of years.
Western Australia is the only state that employs education assistants for
children with anaphylactic conditions. This is not done anywhere else in
Australia; it is not required anymore. We will make those changes. This change
will redistribute staff within our education system, and in following years we
will see growth in not only education funding but also teacher numbers. The
changes in the provision of education assistants were not part of the Teese
report, and no-one ever suggested they were. A redistribution of teaching
resources was very much a recommendation of the Teese report, and is absolutely
consistent with the Gonski proposals.
I remind the Leader of the Opposition that education funding for the coming
year has gone up by $300 million—over six per cent. Indeed, this
government holds the record for increasing education funding by more than 50 per
cent in the past five years. The number of students in our schools has
increased by 22 000 under the coalition, compared with virtually no enrolment
growth when Labor was in power.
Several
members interjected.
Mr M. McGowan interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Look at the numbers, my friend; they are as flat as a tack! The Liberal–National
Parties come in and the enrolments go up. Why? It is because we funded schools.
We introduced independent public schools —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members, the Premier is being drowned out.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : The report by Professor Teese of the University of Melbourne
recognised that the funding system for schools in Western Australia had become
outdated. Schools were being funded on what they were doing, rather than on the
number and needs of their students. We are therefore making a decision. It will
have some adverse consequences for some schools; it will also have some very
positive consequences for others.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : We will maintain the total number of teachers as essentially
constant through the coming year, we will rebalance the distribution of
teachers, and teachers will go to where the students and the needs are. It is a
fact that upper secondary teachers in many schools have classes of six, seven
or eight students. Is that fair in education? No, it is not. The teaching
resources therefore will go to where the students are—in the context of
an overall $300 million increase in the education budget. In addition —
Mr
D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : I feel sorry for our friends from Saskatchewan. They come
from a civilised country and a civilised Parliament, and they must be thinking
the bears are loose, running down from the Rockies!
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members! Member for Mandurah!
Mr C.J. BARNETT : That is the situation with education
resources. We have announced other changes, including reducing the number of
education assistants, which has grown out of control over a number of years.
Western Australia is the only state that employs education assistants for
children with anaphylactic conditions. This is not done anywhere else in
Australia; it is not required anymore. We will make those changes. This change
will redistribute staff within our education system, and in following years we
will see growth in not only education funding but also teacher numbers. The
changes in the provision of education assistants were not part of the Teese
report, and no-one ever suggested they were. A redistribution of teaching
resources was very much a recommendation of the Teese report, and is absolutely
consistent with the Gonski proposals.
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