Parents join teachers to oppose school cuts
Parents and teachers angered by public school reforms are ramping up pressure on the State Government as the full extent of cuts to programs and staffing start to emerge.
Under State Government changes to school funding revealed last week, money for support programs such as extra literacy and numeracy tuition, managing behaviour and improving attendance will be reduced by an average of 30 per cent next year.
Schools will also be charged a new levy of $600 for each teacher and $400 for support staff to cover long-service leave liability.
The Education Department has told schools the reforms are necessary for the transition to a new and more equitable funding model in 2015.
Hillcrest Primary School school council chairman Gavan McGrath said calculations showed the small Bayswater school stood to lose about $250,000 next year.
In a letter to parents he said the school's funding for teaching and support programs would be slashed by 46 per cent.
Mr McGrath said this would lead to bigger classes and less assistance for Aboriginal and non-English speaking students and he urged parents to lobby politicians.
"I hope the people of our community raise their concerns strongly with the Government about these funding cuts because education is the most precious gift we can give our kids," he said.
An Education Department spokeswoman said the figures provided by the Hillcrest council could not be verified because it was too early to decide how the changes would affect the school or attach a dollar figure.
"It's purely speculative at this stage and is unhelpful to cause anxiety and stress in the school community without proper consideration and consultation," she said.
WA Primary Principals Association president Stephen Breen said that a small country primary school could lose up to $80,000 next year, including funding for disadvantaged students. A large city primary school could have cuts up to $300,000.
The State School Teachers Union voted last night to take industrial action to protest against the changes.
SSTU president Anne Gisborne said the union would call a stop-work meeting if the Government did not reverse the cuts by Friday to brief members and consider further action.
"These cuts mean that staff numbers will be decreasing while student numbers will be increasing," she said. "You don't need to be a maths teacher to work out this will mean bigger class sizes, which will lead to poorer learning outcomes."
The peak body for P&C associations, the WA Council of State School Organisations, has condemned the reforms as cuts that will put more pressure on teachers, and asked parents to join teachers at a 4pm rally at Parliament House on Tuesday.
These cuts mean that staff numbers will be decreasing while student numbers will be increasing."Anne Gisborne
