[Greens-Media] School vandals misinformed

[Manderson, Roland]

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ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey MEDIA RELEASE
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8 Aug 06

 
Schools vandalism based on misinformation

ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey has been advised by a well placed source that the ACT Government's Towards 2020 schools plan to destroy public education is based on the misuse of ACT school testing results.

"I have good reason to believe that the secret Costello Review recommended the closure of schools based, on the ACT Assessment Procedure (ACTAP) - which measures literacy and numeracy rates" Dr Foskey said today.

"Such a comparison is simplistic and ill informed - as it does not take into account where the kids have started from."

"When the use of Kambah High's ACTAP figures became public, for example, we learnt that the Review had simply ignored the fact that the school has two special education units, yet incorporating those scores made any comparison with other high schools meaningless."

 "It appears that the Costello Review has drawn conclusions about the ACT public education system on a tabloid media understanding of educational outcomes."

"Canberra people will be shocked to learn that this Labor government has uncritically accepted such a flimsy analysis, and I challenge the ACT Chief Minister to prove otherwise." 

"He was happy, last weekend, to use cabinet documents from the past Liberal Government to support this plan to undermine public education in Canberra.  

"He should now release the Costello review - which is also a cabinet document - so Canberra people, and Members of the Assembly, can really know the basis of the Towards 2020 plan, and what must be done to reject it."

"Now the lack of thinking that has gone into the Towards 2020 plan has been laid bare, it is time to give the Education Department the opportunity to continue the more thoughtful work it was doing on the development of public education in the ACT, in its Education 2010 strategy" Dr Foskey said.


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Roland Manderson   Media Advisor
ACT   Greens    MLA  Deb  Foskey  
Legislative Assembly for the ACT 
ph(02)62050551      m 0412241379
==== www.act.greens.org.au ===== 
  
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