Vacant Victorian schools are being sold to meet a $225 million sales target, which has been dramatically increased in recent years.
As part of an aggressive push to fund the Napthine government's infrastructure program, the target was increased sevenfold from $32 million in 2009/2010 to the current target.
The former state government ordered the Education Department to ramp up its asset sales, despite being warned in a confidential briefing that Victoria's state school population was expected to grow by 37,000 students by 2021.
The sales targets are meant to be achieved over a four-year term, not annually. While the final tally of education land sold under the previous government is unclear, dozens of former schools across the state went under the hammer. The department exceeded its target at the end of the 2013/14 financial year, reaping $142.2 million from the sale of assets.
A letter from former assistant treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips to former education minister Martin Dixon said the sale of surplus land was good for the state's finances as well as "freeing up capital to fund the government's infrastructure program" – only half of the sale proceeds are returned to the Education Department.
The push was revealed in freedom of information documents obtained by Our Children Our Schools, an alliance of public education community campaigns, which described the sale of schools as "short-sighted".
Our Children Our Schools spokeswoman Sonja Terpstra said she was concerned decisions about the future of schools were being driven by sales targets.
"If the impetus is to cash in assets rather than proper provisioning, something is quite wrong. The government will always be playing catch-up when provisioning for public schools if this is the case, and our kids are caught in the crossfire by being crammed into overcrowded schools and classrooms."
She also raised concerns about the government selling school sites to councils, who then sold them to developers for large profits. She referred to the old Bellfield Primary School in Ivanhoe, which was sold to Banyule council for $8.66 million and then sold to developer Stockland for $22.1 million.
The Grattan Institute's Dr Peter Goss said governments should be "very careful" about selling school assets or land that may be needed in the future due to rapid student growth.
"Especially given that it would probably be more expensive to reacquire it. Planning is a long-term game – a child born today would be starting primary school in 2020 and won't finish VCE until 2032."
A letter from former assistant treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips to former Education Minister Martin Dixon said the sale of surplus land was good for the state's finances as well as "freeing up capital to fund the government's infrastructure program".
The Andrews government said it was reviewing the former government's "land sales and acquisitions framework" and developing a new one.
A spokeswoman for Education Minister James Merlino said the Andrews government would regularly monitor residential growth, demographic changes and enrolment trends to ensure demand for schools was properly planned for and accommodated. He said the government would spend $530 million rebuilding schools, including new schools in some of Victoria's fastest-growing areas.
Opposition education spokesman Nick Wakeling defended the sale of disused school sites, saying they helped fund new schools in areas of need. Abandoning the sale of disused buildings could result in vandalism and cost taxpayers, he said.
Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said disused schools should stay in the education portfolio. But she said if sold, the proceeds should be invested into education infrastructure.
I wonder what is being done with the old Learmonth and Windermere school sites? Those 2 schools, last time I heard were 'unstaffed'. Not sure what that means exactly?
There was a story and editorial in last week's Weekly Times implying that DET has been closing schools and not letting school councils make that decision ( Which has been policy for successive governments for 15 years.) I think sometimes there is a disconnect between governments and DET. Does beauracracy have a secret policy at a central or even regional level to close small schools? I believe there was school council consensus to close Windermere and Learmonth but DET at a regional level has never discussed in an open forum such as a regional directors meeting why the schools had to close and what being 'unstaffed' means. ( Of course in the old days unstaffed schools were not uncommon. My old school, Mount Wallace was left unstaffed through most of World War Two and reopened after the war. Somehow I don't think anyone anticipates these unstaffed schools ever reopening)In a previous post I published photos of Windermere PS but all that was left was the old building and a ramp leading to a BER building which has been removed, I believe to Beaufort. I also believe that it was removed unceremoniously. (The ugly facts about that are heresay) I haven't been to Learmonth since it 'closed'.
These questions need to be answered and I'm glad to see The Weekly Times is following this up. There is no doubt that we have endured 4 years of inertia in education under the previous government and pressure put on from the Treasury to sell off 'surplus' land has been released through freedom of information which is of great concern and reminds me of the Kennett governments great school sell-off ( Which was a great financial success for ex- premier Bailleau. Mmmmm I wonder if anyone in particular has financially benefitted from $200 million plus sale of school land under the former government?)
We should not of course lose site of the big picture issue here ( I wonder if the Weekly Times will make this a crusade?) which is the yawning disparity in opportunity and performance of rural and regional students compared with those in metropolitan areas. the Auditor Generals report on this , released in April was damning on, in particular the last government and DET! The gap between rural and city kids is widening and a whole of government approach to this crises is required.( I have posted previously about the report and about the previous government and DET's lacklustre response to it) I have decided to take this up when I have the opportunity with DET ( My end of cycle review conference will be my next opportunity to do this) and my local members, one of whom is the new Agriculture Minister.
Below is the editorial from the Weekly Times
VICTORIA’s small rural towns risk falling apart without their schools.
Last week the Education Department confirmed it would “de-staff” Walpeup Primary School in Victoria’s Mallee, a school that has been operating for 102 years.
Walpeup’s six students will be forced to find a new school — the two closest are 20km and 30km away.
Other rural communities fear they could be next.
There were 18 schools in rural Victoria with 10 or fewer students last year.
School councils say, to their knowledge, decisions to de-staff or close small schools are made by school councils and not the department.
De-staffing small rural schools is a sneaky way for the department to close schools.
Without a functioning school, small towns cannot attract young families and their population numbers do not increase, so de-staffed schools never reopen.
Eight small schools in rural Victoria have closed in the past five years and another three schools have been de-staffed.
None have reopened.
The small towns of Stanley in the North East and Dargo in Gippsland have seen first-hand how a town crumbles when schools are de-staffed.
Small businesses struggle and houses can’t be sold.
The decision to de-staff or close a small school should be left up to the school council.
And there needs to be one clear and consistent policy to close small schools.
School with one or two families should have the same opportunities as schools with five or six families.
The State Government needs to offer small schools far more support because without them rural Victoria will suffer.
The Gallup Student Poll surveyed 7,300 students from years five to 12 in 31 schools across the country in an online census last September.
The results showed students became less enthusiastic about school over time, dropping 19 percentage points from year five to 12 and falling to its lowest point in year 10.
Gallup's Peggy Jasperson said year 10 was a big transition year and "there's a drop in engagement due to the increased demands of school over time".
Cost of schooling
South Australia's private schools only achieve the same results as comparable public schools, despite spending almost $180 million more a year more on their students. Analysis by researchers Chris Bonner and Bernie Shepherd, prepared for Australian Greens Senator for South Australia Penny Wright, shows almost a quarter of government funding to private schools is in excess of what it costs to educate similar students in public schools. In fact nationally private schools are spending $3.3 billion more on their students each year than equally advantaged public schools, despite achieving the same academic results, a new report has found.
Would-be teachers will be forced to pass rigorous new numeracy and literacy tests before they can get their degree and enter classrooms. News Corp Australia understands the federal government is planning to make all new graduate primary and secondary teachers prove they are capable of teaching maths and English by undertaking a mandatory new competency test from 2016.
Principal wellbeing
A reminder that the fourth year of the Principal Health and Well-being report by Dr Phil Riley has been released.Key findings from the report have shown that:
ü The growing job complexity and lack of support means sheer quantity of work is the greatest source of stress facing Australian principals.
ü Parents are the worst offenders when it comes to increasing threats of violence and bullying.
ü Threats of violence occur at five times the rate and actual violence at seven times the rate of the general population.
Victorian schools will be deregistered if they don't have policies to manage child abuse risks and respond to allegations.
Education Minister James Merlino will order all schools to have policies that meet minimum child safety standards or risk having their registration suspended or cancelled, following a recommendation from the Victorian inquiry into child sexual abuse,
The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority will also be given new powers to conduct "quick and targeted" reviews to ensure schools meet their obligations.
But the child safe standards for schools have not yet been developed – the Department of Education will begin consultations with stakeholders in coming weeks.
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Mr Merlino said the reforms would prompt every school to look at what they could do to reduce the risk of child abuse.
"These changes will help keep our next generation in safe hands by making sure schools are equipped to respond and report appropriately when an allegation of child abuse is made."
Reforms making child abuse policies a condition of schools' registration will be introduced into parliament this week, followed by a Ministerial Order setting out minimum child safe standards.
Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Judy Crowe welcomed the changes but said state schools were already well ahead of other schools when it came to preventing and responding to abuse.
"Victorian principals have been trained in mandatory reporting for many many years. Even in cases where there are allegations that are far fetched, you have to notify the department."
Commissioner for Children and Young People Bernie Geary said too many people aware of child sexual abuse remained quiet.
"This is rightfully insisting that this becomes more than a moral obligation, it becomes a legal obligation."
Eleven of 15 recommendations from the Betrayal of Trust report still have not been implemented, including reviewing funding for education groups that work with children, to ensure minimum standards for a child-safe environment. Two of the 11 are before parliament.
Ultra-orthodox Jewish school Yeshivah College ignored and failed to keep records of victims' reports of sexual abuse, the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse revealed.
Rabbi Abraham Glick, the school's principal from the period that sex offenders David Cyprys and David Kramer were abusing students, told the commission he only introduced a policy for responding to child abuse allegations in 2007, despite being required to comply with mandatory reporting laws in Victoria since 1994.
Yeshivah College principal, Rabbi Joshua Smukler, did not respond by deadline to questions about the changes.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green said everyone was responsible for the welfare of children and anything that served to remind people of their obligations was a good thing.
While Catholic Education executive director Stephen Elder said there was no higher priority in Catholic schools than child protection.
"Reassessing and strengthening protection of children in Catholic schools is ongoing and based around best practice rather than minimum standards."
· In response to feedback from the teaching and principal class workforce over the last year, some changes have been made to the 2014/15 Performance and Development model for principal class employees and teachers, with changes taking effect immediately.
· The changes seek to ensure that the process is further focussed on feedback to support development, and that assessments are based on professional conversations and judgements.
· The changes have been made with a view to balancing stakeholder feedback and the need to minimise disruption to the current cycle.
· These changes replace the requirements outlined in the relevant sections of the Performance and Development Guidelines for principal class employees and teachers.
· Principals and teachers will receive a letter from the Minister of Education explaining the reasons for the changes to the Performance and Development process in the current cycle.
· Modifications to the current 2014/15 Performance and Development cycle:
o The four-point differentiated outcomes scale has been removed.
o In exercising this professional judgement, reviewers will apply a three-point outcomes scale (Does not meet/Partially Meets/Meets) to each of the four dimensions to evaluate the extent to which Performance and Development goals have been achieved and those in which further development and support is needed.
o The final Performance and Development outcome for staff is now binary: teachers and principal class employees will receive a final outcome of ‘Met’ or ‘Not met’ based on the professional judgement of the reviewer.
o Reviewers may choose to use an updated Performance and Development outcome tool to help inform their professional judgement about the end-cycle assessment.
The AEU has discussions with both the Government and DET about the performance and development process, in the context of the election commitments received from Labor. The AEU and most principals have consistently opposed - the four-point rating scale, weightings and the separate student outcomes domain. They are focusing on the 2014-15 cycle at present, given the need for DET to finalise any changes and provide advice to schools as soon as possible, as well as trying to minimise disruption. The union is aware that some schools are already developing their plans for the next 12 months, in accordance with the current guidelines. Their advice to members is to progress slowly, pending any further changes to the model.
Meetings with Merlino
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino attended the Joint Primary & Secondary AEU Sector Council meeting on February 13 to outline the Government's priorities for education. Council was particularly pleased to hear the Minister thank principals teachers and ES for the important work that they do and to confirm his promise to scrap the four-point scale as part of the revised P&D model for school staff. He also announced that there would be a specific line item in budgets for 2016 to indicate additional money as part of the Gonski schools funding agreement; and a restructure of regional offices to deliver more support to schools and principals. In response to questions about the loss of the Education Maintenance Allowance, Minister Merlino said that entitlement for its new targeted payments - to assist disadvantaged families with the cost of excursions and other school activities - would be the same as for the former EMA and paid directly to schools for each eligible child. The Minister said he would endeavour to have some of these funds reach schools before the end of the year.
Childcare experts and parents have been left scratching their heads at the Productivity Commission's long-awaited blueprint for childcare reform, arguing its proposed new funding system is too difficult to understand and that many families would be worse off under the plan. Support obviously needs to be 'mean's tested' even though the government in opposition used to reject that as 'the politics of envy' but things are always different in government.
One childcare sector representative told Fairfax Media the Abbott government would be "crazy" to implement the commission's report, which recommends that childcare funding is based on an hourly rate, benchmarked against the median price of various types of childcare. They argued this would see such a significant proportion of parents lose out.
The report, released yesterday, also drew a lukewarm response from the peak childhood body, Early Childhood Australia.
On pages 40 and 41 of the Real Solutions pamphlet the Coalition released prior to the last federal election ( not all that long ago) they made the following promises:
That unity ticket only lasted as long as it took to finalise the election results after which we were subjected to the greatest load of doublespeak resulting in the Coalition cutting funding for years 5 and 6 of the Gonski reforms, reneging on the signed deals with the states, and abandoning their co-funding and accountability obligations.
Obviously this was a non-core promise.
Victorian students who drop out of costly training courses are wasting more than $40 million in fees and government funding every year.
Serious doubts have been raised about the integrity of government-subsidised vocational program following revelations that job applicants are being targeted and pressured to sign up for courses by private colleges.
Yet while enrolments and course fees have increased, state government figures show that only four in 10 students who started these short courses in 2013 have completed them.
Average fees for diploma and advanced diploma students in the VET FEE-HELP loan scheme rose by 84 per cent between 2011 and 2014.
Fees charged to these students increased from $2.4 million in 2009 to $79.6 million last year.
"I'm particularly concerned some of this is online and third-party delivery with a lack of quality control," said Victorian Higher Education and Skills Minister Steve Herbert.
To further add to the mess The Abbott government's plan to deregulate university fees would likely drive up inflation and drain billions of dollars from the budget over the long term rather than saving taxpayers money as originally intended, according to one of the nation's top economic modellers. Full story in today’s Age: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/university-fee-deregulation-to-drive-up-the-deficit-analysis-20150216-13fdfl.html
ART PD
Zart Art Professional learning ( Hosted by Tania from ZART Art)
Wendouree PS
17/02/15
Tania talked about the new ZART catalogue for 2015
She showed us a variety of new products from ZART
Including gelli printing plates, ceramic knives, coloured sharpies, wash brushes, smooth grooves crayons, graphite pencils, porcelain pens and new fiction book titles to support art theory.
According to today's Age, the new state government is about to launch its attack on Pyne's Gonski funding 'slight of hand'.
The Andrews Government is headed for a showdown with Tony Abbott over schools funding, accusing Canberra of short-changing students and vowing to make the issue another pressure-point for the embattled Prime Minister ahead of next year's election.
In the latest sign of simmering state-federal tensions, Victoria has urged the federal government to "back off" from an earlier decision not to honour the final two years of the so-called Gonski funding deal, after figures revealed for the first time that schools would have benefited from an extra $4 billion had the Commonwealth stuck to the original agreement.
According to a damning Auditor-General's report released last week, Victorian schools would have been granted more than $1.4 billion in federal funds in 2018, and more than $2.5 billion in 2019 – if Canberra had adhered to the six-year deal secured under former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former state premier Denis Napthine.
Instead, the Abbott government only committed to four years, or $2.8 billion, between 2014-17 according to the report – far less than the schools bonanza provided in the final years of the Gonski agreement Victoria signed up to."He cannot be allowed to get away with cutting off years 5 and 6," state education minister James Merlino told The Sunday Age. "I absolutely do not accept that this is a fight that cannot be won. I'll be working closely with my state and territory colleagues. This is going to be a big part of the national debate over the course of the next two years and it should be a key part of the debate at the next federal election."
Mr Merlino's comments come as funding shortfalls continue to be a growing concern for parents, teachers, and principals. The latest Productivity Commission report on government services, for instance, confirmed that Victorian state schools still get the lowest government funding of schools in Australia – with each student receiving almost $2000 less than the national average.
The original intent of the Gonski reforms was to help schools by creating a needs-based funding model, where every student would get a base level of funds, with extra loadings for children who are poor, disabled, live in the bush, or come from indigenous backgrounds.
But while the former federal Labor government had promised to fund the scheme for six years – with money increasing substantially each year – the Abbott Government, after a series of policy shifts, only committed to four.
A spokesman for Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne said state school funding over that period would increase by 32 per cent. "There are no cuts to Commonwealth Government funding to Victorian schools. Commonwealth government has honoured all its election commitments on school funding and funding is flowing as agreed," he said.
However, Australian Education Union state president Meredith Peace said parents would be "disturbed" to learn Victorians schools stood to gain almost $4 billion in additional funding – above and beyond enrolment growth funding, teacher salary increases and other areas that are usually paid for by governments – if only the original agreement been honoured.
"In our view, this has got to be a critical issue in the next federal election," she said. "There is growing inequality in this country and it is impacting on our student outcomes. Is Tony Abbott going to deny generations of students the opportunity to get a high-quality education? It's inexcusable."
Link to an interesting article in the Age about the Finnish education system: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/the-simple-reasons-behind-finlands-educational-success-20150208-136887.html
