Doorstop Paterson

SUBJECTS: Education funding; Gonski Ad Blitz; E&OE................................ Bob Baldwin MP: I’ve brought Christopher Pyne to the electorate of Paterson to meet with principals who deliver outcomes. Col Elliott at Irrawang High School has made a substantial difference to this community. He’s delivered outcomes that are important to students. What the Gonski Review should be about is delivering outcomes for students, not just a bucket of money but focussing on the needs of students to get them job ready, job steady. Journalist: What is Col’s view on the Gonski reforms and the fact that New South Wales has signed up? Baldwin: Col is more focussed on delivering outcomes, managing his school, making sure he’s got the right educators in here. Col is passionate about the students that he teaches, he cares about their future and that’s why I have the utmost respect and throughout the schools in my electorate of Paterson, I have many more principals, just like Col Elliott. Presenter: So does he not agree with the reforms? Baldwin: We haven’t got down to that discussion yet about what reforms. What he’d like to see is more opportunities for his schools, for his teachers to be able to deliver more outcomes for our community and our students. You see, education is the one thing that you can invest in a child that no matter what they do in life can never be taken away from them and that’s what’s fair and critical. Journalist: Under the Gonski plan though, wouldn’t schools like this benefit? Baldwin: Well, there are no details yet. I mean what we’ve seen is this headline statement of dollars and of course the O’Farrell Government would jump in, being offered $5 billion but they’ve just been headline statements. There is no detail that’s been fed down to the schools that they can understand what the package is, what it will mean and how it will help them deliver greater outcomes to our students. Journalist: What were some of the topics discussed this morning? Baldwin: We’ve had a walk through we’ve seen this great agricultural centre, the people there delivering outcomes, taking students on the journey with them, giving them a better understanding, therefore creating opportunities for employment. We’ve been to the new language building which is teaching Spanish, today. We’ve had look through the whole of the school. Look, this school, in a somewhat challenged community is delivering real outcomes and importantly, turning peoples’ lives around. This school also has the disadvantage of having rotational families that come in on RAAF postings so the children are here for two years which creates even further challenges but you know, Col Elliott has done it. He’s done it well and that’s why we hold him in respect. Col Elliott is not a lone soldier. There are a great team underneath him and there are great principals in his support network and they work as a team environment. So we’ve brought Christopher Pyne here today to talk to the people actually at the coal face, delivering the outcomes so Chris can understand from my electorate what is key, critical and important. Christopher Pyne MP: Well, I think that Bob has covered off well on the issue of education … (school bell sounds) Baldwin: That’s it, school’s out Chris, it’s done! Pyne: That doesn’t happen very often! Pyne: Start again. Bob has covered off well on the issue of education and New South Wales, this particular school. One of the points he made which I think leads into others is the Government’s priorities. The Government’s priority today is a $50 million advertising blitz, an SOS campaign to ‘Save Our Seats’ at the next federal election. They are taking $50 million from indigenous scholarships for students, from start up scholarships for disadvantaged kids to go to university and spending that money on a ‘Save Our Seats’ campaign for Julia Gillard (interruption in recording) she would come out today and rule out that they will spend $50 million of indigenous students’ money and disadvantaged kids’ money on an advertising blitz. Journalist: What do you think it says about the Government? Pyne: I think it says that the Government would rather spend $50 million on a Save Our Seats campaign for their own re-election than on indigenous scholarships, on disadvantaged kids going to university. It highlights how far the Government has fallen and what they need to do is show some integrity and dignity in this caretaker period of government and end that campaign blitz. Journalist: What’s your view on the proposed cuts to university funding? Pyne: Well the Government is robbing Peter to pay Paul. They are trumpeting a new school funding model for students at school while they are taking money away from kindergartens, from apprentices and trainees and from universities. They’ve cut $11 billion since last year’s Budget from education and they’re putting $9.4 billion into schools. In other words it’s a saving for the Government. It’s a smoke and mirrors trick and to make matters even worse they’re now spending $50 million trying to sell that to the Australian people, of the Australian people’s own money. Journalist: What would you accept though from the Gonski reforms? Would you adopt any of the reforms being proposed? Pyne: Well we think it is all too late to try and introduce a new school funding model for the 1st of January next year and we would like to rollover the current model for a year or two to give ourselves time to pick out the best of the Gonski Report and see if we can implement that. Things like the funding following the child no matter which school it goes to in terms of the loadings for disadvantaged kids. Some of those principles are ones that we would support. Journalist: Would you reverse the model if you get into government? Pyne: Well at the moment there is no model. One state has agreed to it. To do that Barry O’Farrell’s Government has cut $1.7 billion in order to spend $1.7 billion but that’s priorities that they have to decide on, not me. But if only one state signs up to the new school funding model we can’t have a situation where some states are operating under the SES Model and one state is operating under the SRS model that wouldn’t be acceptable and we would not honour that agreement. Journalist: Would you put the money back into tertiary education that’s been cut? Pyne: Well the Government, the Budget, is like crumbled cheese at the moment. We don’t know where it’s all going to end up. We’ll know in two weeks time. If we are fortunate to get into Government we’ll have to deal with a very substantial financial mess which is the creation of this Government. Whether we can reinstate those higher education cuts or the cuts to kindergartens or the cuts to apprentices and trainees is a matter that we can’t really determine until we announce our fiscal policy. Journalist: What did you garner from being here today and talking to the Principal? Pyne: What I garnered today from being with Col Elliot and Bob Baldwin here in this school today, in Irrawang School, is that money isn’t the solution to every problem. Sure, funding of students is a high priority but with good teacher quality, with a robust curriculum, with parental engagement, with principal autonomy you can actually make an enormous difference in young people’s lives and that’s what they’re doing here at Irrawang. And that should be the model the Government wants to implement. Journalist: Mr Pyne, I’m doing a (inaudible)… Irrawang only get funding of about $12 600 a year which is I think above what the Gonski Review recommended… (inaudible). Pyne: Not necessarily because under the so called new school funding model, Irrawang would then lose money. So you need to look at the list of who are the losers and who are the winners from the Government, if they will share them with you. Because if Irrawang is above the SRS recommended by Gonski then they’ll actually lose money. Journalist: Hasn’t the Prime Minister said that no student will lose any money under Gonski? Pyne: No the Prime Minister has been very clear from using weasel words and tricky words as she often does. She said no school will lose one dollar but not in real terms. So that means that with inflation of the average cost of educating a child over the next six years schools like Irrawang could well lose money. ENDS.