Teacher freeze and cuts
The Barnett Government has put school closures and amalgamations on the agenda after saying it would freeze hiring teachers and axe 500 education staff.
The cuts are ahead of new Gonski-style funding for WA public schools, which the Government says will allocate resources to the needs of individual students.
Education Minister Peter Collier admitted class sizes would increase because WA had Australia's most inefficient funding model for high schools, with as few as six students in some classes.
"Some schools will be better off, some schools will be worse off, some schools will have a few staff less," he said. "But ultimately, we are getting to a point where that funding will be targeted to where it is most appropriate."
The Government will axe 150 of 1200 jobs in the Education Department's head and regional offices, 150 education assistants for students with anaphylaxis and up to another 200 assistants.
Mr Collier said some schools could "buy back" education assistants, but this would require cuts in other areas of the school.
How the changes affect individual schools next year will be explained to principals this week.
Mr Collier confirmed the number of teachers employed in the department would not rise, with replacements only for natural attrition - about 1000 a year.
The State School Teachers Union said the freeze on teacher numbers was a real cut given the student population was growing.
_The West Australian _reported on Friday that principals feared wide cuts to education jobs.
That morning on radio 6PR, Mr Collier denied there would be redundancies in his portfolios.
Yesterday, he apologised for that claim, saying he thought he was asked only about teachers.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said Mr Collier had behaved disgracefully and should be sacked.
"Mr Collier should not be allowed to get away with lying about job losses in his portfolio with the silly and unbelievable excuse that he misunderstood the question," Mr McGowan said.
"He wasn't just asked once. He was asked again and again."
Mr Collier admitted he was looking at school closures or amalgamations, nominating high schools in the Fremantle area as a possible starting point.
"There are some inefficient schools where you've got significant numbers of teachers and a small student body, where it would be more appropriate to have a larger student body and more teachers," he said. "I think around Fremantle you've got a state-of-the-art school in John Curtin … but you've got other schools like South Fremantle and Hamilton Hill which are bleeding."
In a parliamentary estimates hearing, Premier Colin Barnett said school closures were yet to be decided but the lack of choice and high standard academic programs in Fremantle and Armadale were obvious.
He said some high schools in Perth's north, built in the 1960s, probably should be closed or amalgamated "to produce a better product".
The new funding model from a review by Melbourne professor Richard Teese will begin in 2015.
Schools will get a base funding for each student, with more for Aboriginals and students with social disadvantage, English as an additional language or a disability, as well as small and remote schools.
