Page 2130 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 May 2009
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The budget has provided $28 million over four years to lower class sizes—an election promise made good, but only on the surface. There is always the small print that you need to check in Labor propaganda. It does seem that the Labor government have very short memories. It was just over a year ago, in fact in this very chamber on 6 August 2008, during the last gasp of the Stanhope majority government—remember that period?—when Jon Stanhope was the Treasurer, before he realised that he needed a hard-nosed Treasurer. So he appointed Ms Gallagher to this most demanding of positions, at a most critical time, and from all accounts against intense lobbying from young Mr Barr, who was hard-nosed and, according to some, hard-hearted. He was certainly hard-hearted enough to close 23 schools. But back in the Assembly on 6 August 2008, in this very chamber, Mr Barr was describing the Canberra Liberal policy to reduce all class sizes in all schools in the ACT school system to a maximum of 21 students. Mr Barr said:
There is no evidence to prove that placing children in smaller classes across the board has a significant impact on improving students’ educational outcomes. Similarly, there is no agreement in the research that there is an optimal class size for students in any year, let alone in years 4 and above. There is certainly no research that children in class sizes of 21—the magic figure that is mentioned in the Canberra Liberals’ education policy—are more likely to achieve higher outcomes than children in other classes.
We then see a massive change of heart, a complete turnaround, when, in September 2008, ACT Labor announced a rip-off of the Liberal policy, with one significant difference. Mr Barr, within the space of one month, saw the light, experienced his very own conversion on the road to Damascus and became a Liberal policy convert. A social progressive with a near-religious experience—a miracle. It is no wonder that he is leaving the chamber. An ACT Labor election commitment was suddenly announced, and the ALP proudly boasted:
A re-elected Labor team will now build on our record by reducing average class sizes to 21—
the small print—
or lower in every year of schooling. We have already reduced class sizes to 21 in all government schools in the important early years and our commitment is to smaller class sizes for children of all ages.
These are curious words. This is a convenient sleight-of-hand, or words as the case may be, to falsely raise the hopes of the ACT school community, and the community as a whole has been hoodwinked.
Let us look at what this year’s budget really gives us. The 2009-10 budget commits $22.7 million over four years to employ 70 teachers in order to reduce class sizes—70 teachers across 83 schools in the ACT. The question remains: how will these 70 teachers be recruited? The Australian Education Union have come out today and said that it will be difficult to recruit these teachers. In the past, in fact at the time of Labor’s initial election promise, the union said that it was very ambitious for the
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