Sharon Baxter-Judge had this article published in the Bungendore Mirror on Wed 29 July 2015. http://issuu.com/bungendoremirror/docs/bm1531/1?e=3265235/14461195 Moruya Public School sent an excellent letter to Dr Hendy in June 2014:
Ricky Campbell-Allen, Director, Centre for New Public Education, asked Jesse several questions on stage at the symposium.
Jesse Rowan, Vice President of Broulee Public School P&C and Chairperson of its Gonski Sub-Committee, attended a symposium run by Need to Succeed (NTS) in October 2014 in Sydney.
In response to the Federal government's decision to review the low socio-economic status (SES) loadings from school funding, our Gonski committee wrote to Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne expressing our disappointment. The letter to Christopher Pyne is below. The recently formed Broulee PS P&C Gonski Committee has endorsed a report on a lecture by Finnish education expert, Pasi Sahlberg in Canberra in June this year. The committee's chairperson, Jesse Rowan, attended the lecture while in Canberra for the AEU education lobby event in June this year. The report will soon be sent out to P&Cs in the Eden-Monaro electorate. Pasi Sahlberg is a former Director-General of Education in Finland and now a visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA, USA. Gonski funding for the whole six years would mean a massive addition of resources aimed to assist those most in need to achieve their potential. Full Gonski funding would allow schools to meet the minimum recommended resource standard needed to provide equity in education for all Australian children. The International Monetary Fund has changed its economic advice to world nations. History and experience have proved that supporting those in need in our society through providing adequate social infrastructure such as health and education has a positive, long-term and durable impact on an economy and is actually an important investment governments need to fund. Broulee PS P&C Gonski Committee wrote letters to Adrian Piccoli, Andrew Constance and Mike Baird of the NSW State government thanking them for their support for Gonski and urging them to continue to campaign for the full Gonski funding. A copy of the letter to Adrian Piccoli is below. The newly-formed Broulee Public School P&C Gonski Committee has endorsed a report on the Gonski Lobby Event in Canberra in June this year attended by Jesse Rowan, the committee's chairperson. The report will soon be sent out to P&Cs in the Eden-Monaro electorate. Jesse’s disappointment at seeing Gonski funding cut to fund only the first four years, thereby cutting two-thirds of the funding, inspired Jesse to be a part of a major education lobbying day at Parliament House in Canberra on the 19th June. Jesse drove to Canberra to talk to Dr Peter Hendy, Federal Member for Eden-Monaro along with a school Principal, a teacher and an Education Union representative from this electorate. Other similar groups also attended this event from various electorates across Australia. Its aim was to challenge Coalition Federal MPs and Senators on the matter of the Federal government’s decision in the recent Budget to cut the final 2 years of the Gonski component of the Federal government funding to education across Australia. Gonski funding for the whole six years would mean a massive addition of resources aimed to assist those most in need to achieve their potential. Full Gonski funding would allow schools to meet the minimum recommended resource standard needed to provide equity in education for all Australian children. Jesse Rowan mentioned to Dr Hendy that she was not a member of a union and that she would speak from her experience as a mother, P&C member and small business owner. Jesse commented that the federal government's budget was a plan for public spending priorities that reflected its ideology, and Australia did not seem to be in a 'budget emergency'. She said that the International Monetary Fund has changed its economic advice to world nations. History and experience have proved that supporting those in need in our society through providing adequate social infrastructure such as health and education has a positive, long-term and durable impact on an economy and is actually an important investment governments need to fund. Dr Hendy said the government could not afford to pay for the full six years of Gonski funding. He said that he fully supported his party’s policies and would not petition his party to make changes. 'Our lobby group was particularly concerned that Dr Peter Hendy would not petition his government on our behalf', Jesse says. 'We believe this is one of his tasks as our representative. He should be listening to his constituents. There are many voters in this bellwether electorate who believe the government should be funding the full 6 years of Gonski reform.' |
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