11 May 2010

Dear QTU member,

As you are aware, the QTU has been involved in a national Australian Education Union (AEU) campaign designed to establish a process to improve the My School website, to stop the misuse of NAPLAN data and the creation of damaging league tables.  

As late as 28 April, Federal Education Minister Gillard refused to acknowledge the need for improvement to the website, was unwilling to acknowledge the problems associated with league tables and would not negotiate with teacher unions.

As a result of the campaign, Ms Gillard was forced to re-think her position. In the face of an Australia-wide moratorium on the tests and with the assistance of ACTU President Sharan Burrow, Ms Gillard finally realised that she needed a resolution to the dispute.

The agreement last week between the AEU and Ms Gillard provides for:

• a working party to look at improvements to My School;

• AEU representation on the working party;

• commitment to a series of principles including “opposition to the misuse of student performance data, including simplistic league tables.”

Thus the campaign objective of establishing a process involving the AEU to improve the website had been achieved and as a result the AEU moratorium was lifted. This could not have been attained without strong membership support.

The QTU State Council on Saturday 8 May endorsed the actions of the QTU during the campaign and thanked teachers and principals for their support. We will now begin the work of improving the website.
 
Thank you for your support.
 

Yours sincerely

John Battams                           Steve Ryan

General Secretary                President