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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 1864 ..

Debate resumed from 18 February 1997, on motion by Mr Stefaniak:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

MS McRAE (5.15): This issue will not die and will probably not be finished today, I suspect; but I think that this paper is a fair response to the issues that were raised. The ongoing concerns are real, and no doubt will make themselves more apparent as the year goes on. I think every effort has been made to make sure that the allocation of resources for school-based management in the first place was equitable; but there are some fundamental structural differences between the schools, and the allocation of funding based on historical records placed an uneven burden on schools, as new ones particularly had not produced a pattern of expenditure which was as even as that for a school that had perhaps been around for 20 years. These are difficult problems which the department is not unaware of; but they must continue to be monitored and dealt with in a far more flexible manner than I have seen thus far.

The issue was discussed last year, when it was clear that some small schools were worried about it. I think those small schools are still very worried about it. Although in this paper some attempt has been made to deal with their concerns, I will be very interested to see how the year proceeds and then I will call on the Government to do a fairly major review of how those small schools, particularly, are proceeding. I note that a school resources group was established and that central reserves will be available for unforeseen costs; but, again, it is an untested fund and there is an untested series of unforeseen costs. It will be very interesting to see what the experience of this year teaches us in terms of just how many of the fears that some schools expressed were realised.

The problem for many schools is that it is such a hit-and-miss affair as to whom you get on your board; how your P and C works; essentially, whether your principal can stay all year, because sometimes people are on transfer or are sick. So, there are many circumstances which create unforeseen difficulties for schools, which I am not entirely convinced are being dealt with thoroughly. As I say, I will be very interested to see how they are reviewed. I note that on page 4 it was said:

Every effort has been made to ensure schools will be adequately funded irrespective of their type or location. Equity of access to educational experiences and equipment will not be affected by devolving more financial responsibility to schools. All students will continue to have access to the equipment necessary for learning.

So, the spirit of what is wanted is there; but whether that can be delivered in practice is what I think we need to closely monitor and together make sure that the real needs of different schools are not overlooked as a result of some need to keep control and a fear that, if we give it to them, perhaps we will have to give it to somebody else.

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