Full funding the only way to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 4, 7 June 2024, page 13.
The Federal Budget handed down on Tuesday 14 May failed to deliver the funding that state schools need and will widen a $30 billion capital infrastructure divide between state and private schools.
It is deeply disappointing that this year’s Federal Budget has failed to increase the Commonwealth share of the SRS to 25 per cent, despite widespread support across the nation for this increase, from school leaders, teachers, parents, unions, community groups, and six state and territory governments.
This is a missed opportunity to deliver a nation-building investment for our children and our country. The issue of full funding of state schools is unfinished business for the Albanese government, and it must be resolved this year.
The QTU however, does welcome the announcement that, from 1 July 2025, an estimated 68,000 students in essential services areas (including teaching) will receive the new Commonwealth practicum payment of $319.50 per week for the duration of their mandatory job placement.
Permission to Teach (PTT) teachers working in Queensland state schools will receive this future federal payment in addition to the prac/PEx payment the QTU negotiated with the Queensland Government, which is already being paid.
Members are acutely aware that true equity is achieved by recognising the rich diversity of complex needs in each classroom in every one of our schools, no matter their size or where they are located; and this necessitates targeted differential resourcing that underpins the new proposed model. Differential resourcing cannot be achieved without a quantum lift in resourcing to state schools.
The CRoSR Stakeholder Reference Group continues to meet monthly, with an additional pre-meeting briefing process enabling key stakeholders, including the QTU, to discuss issues specific to their members.
While proposed, the new resourcing model is still in a developmental phase and has not been formally signed off. The agreed timeframe for completion of the CRoSR project is December 2024, and there is still considerable work to be done in defining the detail of the model and its associated impact.
EB11 presents a concrete opportunity to demand increased resourcing for state schools. Our log of claims already embeds the QTU CRoSR recommendations. Members can progress motions relating to school resourcing advocacy through branch meeting EB11 timeframes.
Negotiations between the Albanese government and state and territory governments are still underway, and we are united in our resolve to campaign to achieve full funding.
QTU members know that fully funding state schools is the only way to ensure that every child gets every opportunity to succeed, and that teachers and education support staff are backed with the resources they need to deliver high quality education for all.
Our campaign to fully fund state schools was highlighted during numerous school visits and media and social media events during the week starting 27 May.
Consultation continues to occur via school leader forums. Keep an eye out for information from your local organiser about open forums for you to participate in. If you would like to provide specific and anonymous feedback outside of these forums, you can do this at any time via the CRoSR webpage (https://www.qtu.asn.au/crosr).