14 Dec 2018 - update
Queensland state schools will apparently be condemned to languish at less than 90 percent of the schooling resource standard for the next five years under a federal government funding arrangement signed between the state and federal governments yesterday.
A technical briefing will be provided to all stakeholders later this afternoon and more detail will be known then, including the reform commitments Queensland has been required to adopt to secure less than minimum funding for Queensland schools.
It does appear that the unacceptable requirements of the federal government’s ‘reform’ agenda have not been adopted by Queensland but that is subject to confirmation later today.
Despite more rhetoric about ‘record’ levels of funding, the minimum funding level set in 2011 is even further off now. The importance of a change of federal government at the next general election has never been greater.
Check back for more information.
We are calling for political parties to commit to
- reverse the Morrison Government's $1.9 billion cut to public schools in 2018 and 2019,
- ensure all public schools are funded to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2023,
- remove the 20 per cent cap on the Commonwealth share of the SRS from the Australian Education Amendment Act,
- establish a capital fund for public schools to upgrade school buildings and classrooms and
- reverse the cuts to disability funding.
Download the AEU report - click on the image below:
All schools should be funded fairly based on the unique needs of each child. But because of changes by the Liberal-National government in Canberra, state schools are missing out on billions in urgently needed funding. Fair funding would mean: smaller class sizes, more one-on-one support, and additional teachers and support staff.
Aims of the campaign
2018 should have been a year of celebration for our schools with the biggest investment in schools in decades. But the Morrison Government’s $500 million cut to Queensland schools will deny most of our children the benefits of this life changing assistance.
However, the Federal Government pushed through legislation last year which means the Commonwealth will provide 80% funding to private schools to meet the Schooling Resource Standard but only provide 20% of funding to public schools.
And they are giving hundreds of millions of dollars of capital funding to private schools but giving no capital funding to public schools that desperately need basic classroom building improvements.
We must stand up and demand fair funding now.
Fair funding now:
- for more teachers and support staff,
- for smaller classes,
- for more one-on-one individual support, and
- for upgraded classrooms and facilities.
Fair funding now for a fair go for all children. Are you in?
I'M INBallot results - Fair Funding Now!
For more details see QTU member newsflash 12-18, 27 June 2018
| Ballot summary (as at 22 June) | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| 1. THAT QTU members urge the Turnbull government to immediately reverse its $1.9 billion cut to state schools in 2018/19 and remove the 20 per cent cap on the Commonwealth Government contribution to the schooling resource standard (SRS) for state schools. | 15,893 (99%) | 140 |
| 2. THAT QTU members acknowledge the success of the Investing for Success (I4S) program and demand the Commonwealth and Queensland governments fund 100 per cent of the SRS to state schools by 2023. | 15,854 (99%) | 131 |
| 3. THAT QTU members call on the Turnbull government to contribute to capital funding for state schools’ facilities in Queensland | 15,856 (99%) | 114 |
| 4. THAT QTU members reiterate support for a ballot for industrial action to ban unacceptable or unsupported changes (such as a standardised phonics assessment for six-year old’s) that the federal government attempts to impose as part of funding arrangements. | 15,560 (97%) | 411 (2%) |
| 5. THAT we the QTU members support the Change the Rules campaign to achieve: secure jobs for employees, better pay risings, a living wage – not just minimum wages, fair bargaining processes and enforceable rights for workers and their unions. | 15,797 (98%) | 200 (1%) |