Creation of New Education Authority

In a Media Release 27 November, Julia Gillard reported that the Australian Curriculum and Assessment and Reporting Authority Bill 2008 was passed by the Senate. This cleared the way for the creation of a new National Statutory Authority to manage the development of a National curriculum and a National system of assessment and reporting.

This Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) will be her key driver of the Australian Government's Education Revolution, leading to a new era of transparency for Australian schools.

The Minister also indicated that the 13 member Board of Directors will consist  of experts nominated by each of the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments as well as the Catholic and Independent schools sectors.

However, both the Federal ALP and the Coalition supported the exclusion of any representatives from the public education sector. This means that public teachers, parents and pupils are not represented on this key centralised body. Yet the sectarian private sector enjoys representation on two fronts. State and Territory governments represent both public and private sector schools. This means that the sectarians will be involved in the content, assessment and reporting of results in public education .

At least the Greens in the Senate spoke in favour of separate representation for public schools. Seventeen minutes of the total debate of 22 minutes was taken up by the speech from Senator Milne.

The Coalition member, Senator Mason,  congratulated Minister Gillard and Senator Carr:

'Now the new paradox is that Ms Gillard and my good friend Senator Carr will put the education of Australian students, young Australian, ahead of teacher unions....'

The real paradox neither Gillard, Carr or Mason wish to come to terms with is that the New South Wales Teachers' Federation is the  strongest advocate for more than two thirds of Australian students.

It took less than twenty four hours for the Bill described by Julia Gillard as a key driver of the Australian Government's Education Revolution, to go through the Senate. The Second and Third Readings took only twenty two minutes.

Both the ALP and the Coalition treated the majority of parent/citizens not to mention the majority of teachers in the Australian nation with complete contempt.

Report of the Senate Standing Committee on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations:

Schools Assistance Bill 2008.

On 27 November 2008, both the ALP and the Coalition opposition in the Senate accepted the title of the Schools Assistance Bill 2008. This is one of the greatest put-downs of public education imaginable. Schools for the ALP and the coalition are only private schools. This Bill deals solely with private schools and the massive billions of dollars pouring out of the central Treasury into their religious operations.

For the ALP and Coalition opposition public schools do not qualify as 'schools'. However, public schools represent over 70% of the schools in existence in Australia, and, in the coming recession represent the only choice of parents confronted with mortgage stress. The flight to the public system of the aspirational middle class has already begun in New South Wales.

once again, the Greens must be congratulated for their minority report. Their first recommendation was that

'The title of the bill be amended to the Non-Government Schools Assistance Bill 2008'

This Bill sets a vicious, historic precedent. For the first time since the 1970s the federal act dealing with school funding has been separated into legislation dealing with private schools only. There are significant reasons why this is a backward step. At the same time as Julia Gillard talks piously about accountability and transparency, her government is attempting to prevent comparisons between the funding of the private and public sector.

It is a symbolic failure of Gillard's 'transparency' when a Bill contains a title which is totally misleading. It is like describing the whole body by only the foot, or has it become the head?

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