Public education, school funding, Mark Latham - Federal Labor Leader

Speech

Transcript - Public Education Alliance Meeting, Canberra - 21 June 2004

Check Against Delivery

Thank you very much to Pat and Rob, to Jenny Macklin, Shadow Minister for Education, Brendan Nelson, Minister for Education, other parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, and all the wonderful supporters of public education gathered here today. I want to thank you for your attendance and your lobbying efforts around Parliament House on such an important issue. My own experience in life has taught me that there is no more powerful institution for good in our society than a good public school.

I’m proud to say that I’m a product of the government school system.  Nothing would make me happier in life than for my children to follow me into my old school, a wonderful school, Hurlstone Agricultural High School.

I’ve often said that if I could replay one part of my life, it would be my time at Hurlstone – those wonderful memories, the great opportunity to learn so much and hopefully develop, as I did through the 1970s. Hurlstone is a magnificent centre of excellence and learning.  If not for Ashcroft Primary and for Hurlstone, and the things they did for me, I wouldn’t be here today as a parliamentarian and I wouldn’t be here today as the Leader of the Federal Labor Party.

I see excellence in public education as the very best way of ensuring that every child in our society gets the chance to fulfil his or her potential in life.  And for the poor, for the most disadvantaged in our society, it’s their passport to opportunity. 

In my opinion, public education should set the standards for curriculum development, teaching and resourcing for all schools.  Under Labor, it will never be considered a residual system for the sons and daughters of the poor.  It must be a system for all Australians.

Mr Howard said earlier this year that public schools have a problem with values. 

I guess he doesn’t value things like equity, tolerance, community and excellence, because that’s what students receive in our public schools.

And let me give you this guarantee: as Prime Minister, I won’t be sitting on the sidelines – a negative, whinging, carping commentator – taking pot shots at government schools.

If there’s a problem in our schools system – whether government or non-government – let’s get stuck in and fix the problem.  The education of our young people is much too important to be a political football.  If the current Government wants to talk about values, I say it should value public education and seek to work within the public education system.  And of course fund the system accordingly.  Our public schools must be a national priority.

By institutionalising two funding models – one for government and one for non-government schools – the Howard Government has ignored the principle that every child deserves the same chance of receiving a quality education.

That is what school funding should be about – the education of individual children, not favouring one system over another.  It’s obvious which system the current Government favours.  You only need to look at the results of the funding model – delivering massive benefits to schools that already have twice the learning resources of the average government school.

Quite frankly, I can’t tolerate a situation where a school like King’s in Sydney, which charges fees of nearly $17,000 per year, receives a 280 per cent increase in public funding, yet a school like Fairvale High School, in the same city, in Western Sydney, receives an increase of just 54 per cent.

When you take into account the increasing cost of education – according to the Government’s own funding index – these public schools receive virtually no increase in their available resources.

Compare the resources of most high schools with those of King’s – with its 15 cricket fields, 13 rugby fields, 12 tennis courts, 5 basketball courts, 3 soccer fields, 2 climbing walls, 50 metre swimming pool, gym, boatshed, and indoor rifle range – that’s not the result of a fair funding system.

The Government talks a lot about national standards.  Labor agrees.  Standards are crucial, but how can we talk about national standards without linking it to resources?

Australia does well in international testing, but not so well in the crucial area of equity and the distribution of resources and achievement.  I don’t believe we have to make a choice between excellence and equity in the education system.  As the OECD says, we have to both raise the bar and narrow the gap. That's the dual task.

Just like many poor, non-government schools, our public schools need real increases in funding if they’re to meet an acceptable national standard of resources and results. 

Despite this need, the Howard Government refuses to increase funding for public schools in real terms, delivering index-based rises only.

Therefore, Labor’s new funding principles will include an increase in the funding of public schools, based on the principle of need.  Our new funding principles will increase Commonwealth funding of Government schools, based on a funding standard against which needs can be assessed, and the details will be announced before the next election.

I give you this commitment here today: I will not rest for a moment until every school in this country – Government, Catholic, Christian and Independent – is a high-achieving school fulfilling the rich potential of the next generation of young Australians.  That’s what I call a fair go, and I won’t rest until it’s achieved.

But encouraging achievement in our schools is not just about funding.  Research shows that even in the poorest communities, a great teacher can make a big difference.

Quality teaching is a pathway out of poverty.  It must be available to every student in our society.

To me, it’s just common sense that the best teachers should be encouraged to teach in the schools where they are most needed.

This is not to criticise the teachers already working hard in our disadvantaged public schools.  It simply recognises the fact that new teachers are over-represented in these schools.  And that the wealthier, independent schools, very often, are cherry picking the highest-achieving, more experienced teachers. 

This has the long-term effect of further widening inequalities between our schools. The inequities just get worse.

We must get more expertise and resources into struggling schools.  It’s my top priority. 

Labor will work with government and non-government school authorities to provide the resources to enable schools in battling communities to recruit and retain teachers who have a record of success in getting improved results from students.

These teachers will be rewarded with rates of pay higher than the current top of the teacher salary scale and will receive additional resources for professional development.

They will also be given funds to enable them to mentor and assist the professional development of other teachers in their school.

They will be expected to be leaders in their school and in the community.

The criteria for choosing these teachers will be decided in discussion with national and State teacher accreditation bodies, and with representatives of principals, teachers and parents, including the AEU.

Public education also desperately needs an increase in capital funding – the all important question of capital funding.

Capital funding for building upgrades, refurbishment, infrastructure for new technologies and new teaching methods has not increased in real terms since the current Government came to power.

I want to overcome this problem.  A Labor Government will increase capital funding.  As part of our commitment to high resource standards for all students, we want state-of-the-art facilities for all Australian schools.

Finally, let me thank you for your work in public education.  I want to thank you for the things you do in our public education system. It’s a service to our nation – to the great Australian ideal of opportunity for all.

Mr Howard and I both went to government schools.  That’s not a bad achievement in itself for the sector.  Whoever wins the next election, the Prime Minister will be a product of public education.

I’m always proud to go back to my old school, as I’ll be doing this Saturday night at the Hurlstone Ball, the annual ball, in my electorate.

In the late 1970s a handful of inspirational teachers at Hurlstone changed my life for the better.  That’s why I want a quality public education system in this country.

So that children who come from a modest background can have decent opportunities in life.  So that we can pass something on to the next generation and make Australia a better and fairer place.

My school teachers are still my heroes – people like Neville Smith, Peter Collins and Reg Clarke, the old Principal at Hurlstone.

I hope that one day people might look back on my contribution in this place and say that I remembered where I came from – proudly remembered where I came from – and put something back into public education, the system that gave me so many benefits and opportunities in life. 

That would be the least I could do as Prime Minister – to honour my heroes, to honour the great Australian ethos of opportunity for all: opportunity through excellence in education.

Ends.