Mr GUNNER - 2013-08-27
Darwin Middle School has written to you saying they will lose at least five teachers from the start of next year. Not only will teacher numbers be cut, but also subjects and programs such as intensive literacy and numeracy support, student wellbeing programs and the school’s award-winning Good Standing program. The school’s letter says:
Other middle schools are receiving similar cuts. Will you listen to Darwin Middle School and other schools and stop your cuts?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate the question from the spokesperson for Education. If he understood how schools work today, he would understand that it comes down to principals in conjunction with their school councils to determine what they want to deliver in their schools. The Education department will provide resources. From those resources they dictate what will be taught in those schools. That is the way it works. If a school determines to keep a subject, it can do that. It will be up the schools.
Let us talk about this for a minute. This all comes down to school funding. Here is a little lesson. It is something I know about: living within your means. If we do not learn to live …
Ms Lawrie: You know all about that do you?
Mr CHANDLER: Absolutely I do. If we do not learn to live within our means, we are stealing from the futures of the children we are educating today. That is where you guys, the Labor Party, got it so wrong. It is easy to spend the money, but at some stage the money has to be paid back, so this comes down to resources.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was specifically about programs cut from Darwin Middle School and five teachers being cut. The question was: will he listen to the school and other schools and stop the cuts?
Mr CHANDLER: Mr Deputy Speaker, this needs to be articulated in this frame. First, we are talking about funding. It is about what a government can afford to deliver for education. I already said in answer to the first question today, that in the first 12 months of this government we have spent more in education than any previous government has ever spent.
We can have these fights all day about the ideology behind Labor and the way they love to spend money. Then conservative governments have to, time and time again, come in and learn to live within their means to pay off Labor debt. We are left with less money today simply because of the ill-founded spending that happened in the years under Labor. We are left with a situation where we need to learn to live within our means.
If we do not, we are robbing the children we are educating today.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! It is a direct question. Standing Order 113: relevance. Will he answer the question? Will he reverse the cuts?
Mr CHANDLER: I am trying to, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is very light-hearted of the Opposition, the then Labor government, to talk about education in this way. We have already detailed that we have spent more in the first 12 months of this government than any previous government has ever done.
We realise that is unsustainable, but when it comes to the question and what schools can do, it is up to schools to manage their funds. It is up to the students, the teachers and the school councils to determine what curriculum and subjects they will have in their schools. They can do what they want with the resources they have.
- The cuts will severely affect our students’ ability to learn effectively and across a diverse curriculum. We believe the cuts are extremely harsh and we will be asking the government to reconsider their decision.
Other middle schools are receiving similar cuts. Will you listen to Darwin Middle School and other schools and stop your cuts?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate the question from the spokesperson for Education. If he understood how schools work today, he would understand that it comes down to principals in conjunction with their school councils to determine what they want to deliver in their schools. The Education department will provide resources. From those resources they dictate what will be taught in those schools. That is the way it works. If a school determines to keep a subject, it can do that. It will be up the schools.
Let us talk about this for a minute. This all comes down to school funding. Here is a little lesson. It is something I know about: living within your means. If we do not learn to live …
Ms Lawrie: You know all about that do you?
Mr CHANDLER: Absolutely I do. If we do not learn to live within our means, we are stealing from the futures of the children we are educating today. That is where you guys, the Labor Party, got it so wrong. It is easy to spend the money, but at some stage the money has to be paid back, so this comes down to resources.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was specifically about programs cut from Darwin Middle School and five teachers being cut. The question was: will he listen to the school and other schools and stop the cuts?
Mr CHANDLER: Mr Deputy Speaker, this needs to be articulated in this frame. First, we are talking about funding. It is about what a government can afford to deliver for education. I already said in answer to the first question today, that in the first 12 months of this government we have spent more in education than any previous government has ever spent.
We can have these fights all day about the ideology behind Labor and the way they love to spend money. Then conservative governments have to, time and time again, come in and learn to live within their means to pay off Labor debt. We are left with less money today simply because of the ill-founded spending that happened in the years under Labor. We are left with a situation where we need to learn to live within our means.
If we do not, we are robbing the children we are educating today.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! It is a direct question. Standing Order 113: relevance. Will he answer the question? Will he reverse the cuts?
Mr CHANDLER: I am trying to, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is very light-hearted of the Opposition, the then Labor government, to talk about education in this way. We have already detailed that we have spent more in the first 12 months of this government than any previous government has ever done.
We realise that is unsustainable, but when it comes to the question and what schools can do, it is up to schools to manage their funds. It is up to the students, the teachers and the school councils to determine what curriculum and subjects they will have in their schools. They can do what they want with the resources they have.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016