Press Releases

Washington Supreme Court: Charter Schools not Common schools and cannot Receive Public Funding

Press Release 616

In a 6-3 decision, the Washington Supreme Court found "significant portions" of voter-approved Initiative 1240, the Charter School Act, unconstitutional.The high court said that charter schools do not qualify as "common" schools and cannot receive public funding.

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Charter schools can never be Public or Advance the Common Good

Press Release 614

Profiteers are not satisfied with making profits out of the child-care, religious, TAFE and university sector. They are knocking at the door of Australia’s public primary and secondary systems.Not only is David Leyonhjelm, Liberal Democrats senator for NSW, wanting to introduce for-profit schools in Australia.

The right wing think tank, the Centre for Independent Studies in a Report entitled: ‘Free to Choose Charter Schools: How Charter and For-Profit Schools can boost Public Education’, is arguing that US - style privately-owned charter schools should be rolled out in Australia. Such schools are funded by the government and run by private entities .They have full autonomy over the school finances, staffing and curriculum. http://www.cis.org.au/pdf/rr6.pdf. To label them ‘public’ schools is mischievous and misleading.

ACCESS Ministries, Christians and the Separation of Religion and the State

Press Release 613

ACCESS Ministries are concerned that the Andrews Government has sidelined Special Religious Instruction to an opt-in program held outside the hours of secular instruction in Victorian Public Schools.

The Government is here fulfilling its obligation to keep separate matters of secular instruction which are for the common good and matters of belief which are matters for private conscience. It is a still a matter of concern that hundreds of millions of the State’s scarce resources are diverted into private, religious schools themselves.

Figures now Prove that State Aid to Private Religious Schools is Economic Stupidity

Press Release 608

or half a century DOGS have argued that State Aid to private schools was not only bad social policy, educating those able to pay for the first class ticket to heaven and the good job. It would, in the end, prove disastrous if not stupid - economically.

The dissembling, false claims, scare mongering and misuse of statistics by the private and religious school sector over the last fifty years is now under scrutiny from another group that include statistics experts - the Save Our Schools gurus.