❓ Minister Carpenter provides a progress report on the local selection and five-year renewable placements initiative for teachers, highlighting an agreement with the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and contrasting his government's approach to education with the previous government's.
AnsweredQoN 659Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the minister give the House a progress report on the initiative announced in July this year to expand local selection and to introduce renewable five-year placements for teachers in city schools? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and also for her valuable and constructive advice on this and other ongoing education issues. Yesterday will certainly be seen as a landmark day in public education in Western Australia as the day that the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and the Government came to an agreement and understanding on the issues of local selection and limited tenure at school sites. The union agreed to withdraw its opposition via application before the Industrial Relations Commission in return for concessions from the Government about the timing of the changes and about future negotiations. These concessions were offered because of legitimate issues raised by the union. I thank the union for bringing the matters to our attention and for the way it reached a settlement yesterday. We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and also for her valuable and constructive advice on this and other ongoing education issues. Yesterday will certainly be seen as a landmark day in public education in Western Australia as the day that the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and the Government came to an agreement and understanding on the issues of local selection and limited tenure at school sites. The union agreed to withdraw its opposition via application before the Industrial Relations Commission in return for concessions from the Government about the timing of the changes and about future negotiations. These concessions were offered because of legitimate issues raised by the union. I thank the union for bringing the matters to our attention and for the way it reached a settlement yesterday. We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and also for her valuable and constructive advice on this and other ongoing education issues. Yesterday will certainly be seen as a landmark day in public education in Western Australia as the day that the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and the Government came to an agreement and understanding on the issues of local selection and limited tenure at school sites. The union agreed to withdraw its opposition via application before the Industrial Relations Commission in return for concessions from the Government about the timing of the changes and about future negotiations. These concessions were offered because of legitimate issues raised by the union. I thank the union for bringing the matters to our attention and for the way it reached a settlement yesterday. We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and also for her valuable and constructive advice on this and other ongoing education issues. Yesterday will certainly be seen as a landmark day in public education in Western Australia as the day that the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and the Government came to an agreement and understanding on the issues of local selection and limited tenure at school sites. The union agreed to withdraw its opposition via application before the Industrial Relations Commission in return for concessions from the Government about the timing of the changes and about future negotiations. These concessions were offered because of legitimate issues raised by the union. I thank the union for bringing the matters to our attention and for the way it reached a settlement yesterday. We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for her question and also for her valuable and constructive advice on this and other ongoing education issues. Yesterday will certainly be seen as a landmark day in public education in Western Australia as the day that the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) and the Government came to an agreement and understanding on the issues of local selection and limited tenure at school sites. The union agreed to withdraw its opposition via application before the Industrial Relations Commission in return for concessions from the Government about the timing of the changes and about future negotiations. These concessions were offered because of legitimate issues raised by the union. I thank the union for bringing the matters to our attention and for the way it reached a settlement yesterday. We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
We are now able to move to the finetuning of this initiative that I believe will deliver very profound and beneficial change to the public education system in the long term. The new staffing initiatives include local selection and five-year renewable appointments in metropolitan schools. The agreement reached between the union and the department will result in the introduction of the initiatives, with transitional arrangements for teachers who made an application for transfer prior to my announcement on 8 July. An area of concern for the union was that hundreds of teachers had already made an application for transfer into new schools for 2005 before I announced the changes. The union felt that those teachers should be treated as a special case as they had legitimate expectations when they made an application for transfer. I agreed with that concern, and I was happy to be able to ultimately make that concession. I said publicly that I always hoped an amicable resolution would be reached on this issue, and I am very pleased that that occurred. It is a good outcome for teachers, for principals and for public education. Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Public education is in a very interesting position now in Australia and in Western Australia in particular. In light of the political landscape and the way social trends are developing, everything that can be done to make public education attractive for parents, and, therefore, for students, must be done. This initiative is a good move in that direction. Coupled with changes to the school leaving age, these are the most significant changes to public education probably for 40 or 50 years. I am grateful for the support that people in the education system have offered. There is a significant difference between our approach to public education and the alternative approach offered. I have brought to Parliament graphic demonstrations of the results of the two different approaches. Under the previous Government, there was an appalling lack of attention to public education in Western Australia, and results on every count were going backwards. All those trends have changed, and this has been done without blowing the budget. Good financial management of the State’s finances has enabled us to put in place changes and initiatives that were needed, are needed and will be needed. The Opposition delivered five deficit budgets. The former Minister for Education blew his budget by $300 million over four years. On every single indicator the output of the system was going backwards. I am grateful to the Australian Education Union (WA Branch) for the agreement that was reached yesterday. We have outstanding teachers. Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr J.H.D. Day: You think that if you tell the people often enough they might start to believe you. I think you are wrong. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The test will come. With the inspirational leadership of the member for Darling Range, public education might go forward in Western Australia, but I doubt it. I am confident that it is going forward now. It is going in the direction that we need it to go in. I am grateful to all those who have supported the changes that we have made to the system.
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