Tasmania’s educators have been left heartbroken and outraged today by Prime Minister Albanese’s shock announcement of a cloak-and-daggers deal that is set to rob this generation of Tasmanian children of the education funding they’ve been waiting for.
The PM today announced that the State and Federal Governments will each kick in another 2.5% of Tasmania’s Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding apiece, equivalent to $1000 per student each year, to “fully fund” Tasmanian schools – but the State Government will be allowed to continue stealing over $900 of funding from each student each year with the other hand.
Crucially, the PM has done nothing to close the loophole that will see $260 million stolen from students in the next five years and funnelled into overhead Departmental costs like capital depreciation and regulatory authorities like the TRB, which have nothing to do with student learning outcomes.
While Tasmanian schools facing an education crisis need full SRS funding urgently, the Governments won’t hand the money over now – instead, they’ll drip-feed it to schools over the next five years.
Educators have been calling for Tasmanian public schools to be funded to 100% of the SRS which, according to the Gonski Report, is the amount of money required to educate 4 out of 5 students to the minimum standard.
Quotes attributable to AEU Tasmania President David Genford:
“Unless 100% of the SRS is spent on schools, the State and Federal Governments cannot truthfully say that they have funded Tasmanian schools according to Gonski principles.”
“Another failure to deliver even the bare minimum funding required to educate most Tasmanian kids to the minimumstandard is not a winning announcement. It is an abject failure of Government.”
“We should be talking about the kind of funding we need to educate all students to an exceptional standard, but the Government are still dragging their feet and refusing to do the absolute bare minimum. It’s heartbreaking. Our kids are worth more than this.”
“Unless schools get another $1000 for each student at the start of the next school year, it’s just more kicking the can down the road.”
“Educators, parents and students have every right to feel disappointed and betrayed by the State Government’s devastating decision to sell Tasmanian kids out.”
“Just this Monday Education Minister Palmer told Budget Estimates that she was standing firm with the other states against a deal that didn’t deliver full funding. Was Minister Palmer aware of this deal? Did she mislead Parliament or was she mislead by her Premier? How are educators expected to have confidence in a Minister who doesn’t have control of her own portfolio?”
Tasmanian Branch President
davidg@aeutas.org.au
