[Greens-Media] Piccoli's audit for public schools dangerous and unnecessary

[John Kaye]

Piccoli's audit for public schools dangerous and unnecessary

Media release: 28 May 2014
The Greens have warned that Education Minister Adrian Piccoli's proposed legislation to expose public schools to random audits by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BoSTES) risks unnecessary duplication of resources ('NSW public schools to face random audits assessments', Sydney Morning Herald, 28 May 2014, http://bit.ly/1tkoekt).

Greens NSW MP John Kaye said that the proposal may also create opportunities for the advancement of the Minister's Federal colleague Christopher Pyne's dangerous pet project, the establishment of independent public schools.

Dr Kaye said: "The NSW public school system is already under siege from the Coalition at federal and state government levels.

"Budget cuts and school autonomy models have increased workloads and responsibility for managing ever-declining buckets of money.

"Exposing public schools to two different bureaucracies is unnecessary.

"Another layer of bureaucratic burden for government schools might appease the non-government sector in its push to undermine public education, but it is unnecessary, unless the Minister has another agenda.

"It is entirely appropriate that private schools should be regulated by BoSTES. The government should be protecting the massive public investment in this sector.

"There is no reason that public schools should be treated in the same way. They are already under the regulation of the Education Department.

"If public schools are already audited by the Department, there has to be another reason why the Minister wants this legislation to pass.

"The Greens will vote against it because it is nothing but a step towards the introduction of independent public schools.

"Independent public schools will undermine all of the benefits of a quality public education system. It is a failed model that does not produce better learning outcomes for students.

"Mr Piccoli has said in the past that he is opposed to Mr Pyne's independent public school model. The Greens will hold him to that when the legislation is voted on in parliament," Dr Kaye said.

For more information:       John Kaye 0407 195 455


John Kaye
Greens NSW MP

P: (02) 9230 2668 | F: facebook.com/john.kaye.mlc<http://www.facebook.com/john.kaye.mlc> | T: @johnkgreens<twitter.com/johnkgreens> | W: www.johnkaye.org.au<http://www.johnkaye.org.au>
Mail: Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

This email is solely for the named addressee and may be confidential. You should only read, disclose, transmit, copy, distribute, act in reliance on or commercialise the contents if you are authorised to do so. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender by email immediately and then destroy any copy of this message. Except where otherwise specifically stated, views expressed in this e-mail are those of the individual sender.
[Description: Description: MC900437266[1]]  Please consider the environment before printing this email.