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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-18 Daily Xml
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SCHOOL AMALGAMATIONS

Mr PISONI (Unley) (12:44): I move:

That this house condemns the state government for its lack of community consultation regarding plans to close and amalgamate 44 schools and preschools in Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla and replace them with nine super schools.

I move this motion because of the influx of calls and emails to my office from members of the school community—school chairs and others—who are concerned about being pushed into a decision they are not ready to make. The state government has been working on plans to close or amalgamate 44 regional schools and preschools in the Upper Spencer Gulf and replace them with nine super schools. The problem is that, although they have been working on this agenda for a year or more, local parents, many teachers, students and even local councils have only just recently been made aware of the plans, and the community is now being rushed to reach a decision and vote by 30 June.

The department has also been using the federal BER funding as a driver, telling school communities that not signing up to the new plans will put that funding at risk. Of course, this is a distortion of process and the schools' entitlements, but typical of how the campaign has been waged thus far. I was astounded that the member for Giles in her grievance on 2 June was very angry to hear that I wanted to look at the issue of community consultation in relation to this issue. Who would be against ensuring adequate consultation in a situation where families are making decisions that will affect education in their local communities for generations—not just their own families, but future families?

I also note that she was sick to death of outside people coming to these communities and creating angst. I can only assume that she is referring to the slick carpetbaggers from Treasury with their list of education assets to sell off and the folks from DECS with their glossy plans and offers that locals just cannot refuse, but which the locals do not seem to like very much. There was an assertion from the member for Giles that outsiders are stirring the pot in Port Pirie regarding plans for a school closure and amalgamation. It is actually called taking an interest, something that the rebadged 'Country Labor' might want to take on board.

It is only because of the interest taken by the AEU, concerned locals and outside interests independent of the state government that this issue has now begun to be prominent in the community. However, their belated and tightly controlled public information meeting held in Port Pirie on 26 May resulted in a walkout by many of the audience who were not having their questions answered. As a matter of fact, they were told that they could not ask questions, and I believe a table of about 30 people walked out (so Terry Boylan, who attended that meeting, tells me).

In keeping with the theme of my motion, people attended a meeting being promoted as one at which they would have a say, but only 15 minutes was allocated for questions. It was clear that the meeting was about telling people about the new order and not answering questions on details—glossy but not inclusive.

Certainly, during my recent visit to the region visiting school communities and meeting with parents, educators, local officials and students, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the consultation process. People in the region were grateful that an outsider was taking an interest, but, of course, the Liberal Party is not an outsider in regional South Australia. The Liberal Party adequately represents members of the community outside Adelaide and is a party for both the city and the country. Labor is on the nose in the country—they know that—and that is why they have rebadged themselves as 'Country Labor' for those regional electorates.

I agree with the member for Giles that outsiders are driving the agenda—the education minister, the Treasurer and DECS planners in Flinders Street. These changes are certainly not being driven by the communities involved. The communities do not even know about these changes. It is only in recent time—that is, since I and the AEU intervened—that people have been made aware of what the government has planned for these school closures.

Many in the community are not only concerned about the lack of consultation and the rushed time frames but the whole concept of super schools. They are suspicious that the agenda is more about selling assets and grabbing cash than educational outcomes. Educational outcomes are given scant coverage in the education and care briefs relating to the government's plans for super schools.

Many in local communities are aware of the reverse trend away from larger schools and super schools overseas, for reasons of student engagement, parental involvement, teaching conditions, educational outcomes and the issue of violence and bullying. Bigger is not necessarily better. This is especially true for areas of higher social disadvantage which draw from a wider range of student demographic; in other words, where schools lose their local or community aspect.

The state Labor government needs to lift its consultation game regarding Education Works and other school closures and amalgamation situations. Let us talk about educational outcomes. Let us not just talk about new buildings. Let us talk about what children and families will get from the changes. The government has been very scant and evasive on this issue.

Every case needs to be carefully considered by the affected community on its individual merits with parents, staff, students and local authorities. People need to be fully informed of the facts and, most importantly, the consequences of merging or closing their schools including such issues as loss of staff and SSOs, loss of recreational space from mergers, transport and distance to school and the knock-on effect of this to educational outcomes and the local economy.

It is not good enough to say that there will be no forced closures and then stack the deck with inadequate consultation, compressed time frames for consideration, threats of losing federal funding and by allowing such a deterioration of school assets and maintenance that it seems as though there is no other option. A genuine consultation process is needed—not lip service and Treasury-driven agenda. The important education decision will have a long-term effect on schools and their communities. The people of upper Spencer Gulf deserve a proper consultation process and the right to decide the right educational future for their region.

I would also like to read into Hansard some of the emails that I have received. One is from a parent of a governing school council referring to a letter that was sent from Rowena Fox, the Eyre and Western Region Director of DECS, on 16 June, and I refer to a paragraph in this letter that went out to school chairpersons relating to a consultation event on 22 June in the Palms Function Centre in the Westland Hotel/Motel. Bear in mind that this consultation happens a day before the voting starts. The letter goes on to tell us that voting on the proposal will be between 23 and 29 June and yet the consultation starts with the community just a day before. The letter states:

This event will provide visual displays for the local Whyalla Schools Community proposal—which is effectively underpinned by the Whyalla Education and Care Brief and attracted majority support in 2008 from parents and caregivers.

In his email to me, this school council chairman states, 'I have taken the liberty of underlining the statement that most distresses me'—and that is that statement that this 'attracted majority support in 2008 from parents and caregivers'. He has gone on to say that 'this statement is a lie'.

As chairman he was not involved in that process at all. He asks, 'How can this statement be made when school councils were not involved in making that decision?' He, as a school council chairman, sent me a copy of this letter which he received from somebody else because he, as a school council chairman, has not yet received it from the department, and yet we are told that there is a consultation process in place.

In his letter he mentions other questions that he would like to ask, namely: 'Who is responsible for this community involvement? Is this meeting convened here tonight the one intended by the steering committee?' He is referring here to the meeting that he convened as a school council last month, noting that, had he not convened the meeting, the meeting would not have even happened. It is interesting that the consultation process that the government claims to have carried out has left out the very people who will be affected by the decision.

Here I would like to read a letter that was sent to me from a representative from a group that describe themselves as the Parent Friendly Forum which had a meeting at the Left Hand Club at Whyalla on 15 June 2009 where a motion was passed. The letter was sent to the minister and I was sent a copy of that letter as the shadow education minister. It states:

Last night, a group of interested parents met to discuss the Education Works proposal in Whyalla. There were many questions and issues raised. As a result of the lack of clarity about the details of the proposed concept and the obvious confusion and lack of information in the community, the following motion was passed unanimously.

So, we have been told that there has been community consultation process happening but a group of parents and those involved have got together and passed this motion. It reads:

We call upon the Education Minister to place—

Ms Breuer interjecting:

Mr PISONI: Well, apparently, you got a copy. Did you get a copy of the letter?

Ms Breuer interjecting:

Mr PISONI: You've got a copy of the letter, member for Giles, and you have done nothing about it. It states:

We call upon the Education Minister to place a moratorium on the Education Works process in Whyalla until the following conditions can be met:

A properly elected working party is formed consisting of parent, staff, student, local council and community reps. It should have a majority of parents and could include retired educators.

Time must be allowed for the implications of the proposal to be properly researched and the community informed.

The voting process needs to be conducted by the AEC.

We hope that these matters can be discussed in a very constructive manner at the public meeting in Whyalla on Monday, June 22nd.

This letter went to Jane Lomax-Smith, and I will be very interested to see whether she will take any notice of it. Of course, it came about after a series of emails between the group and the member for Giles. The emails are a bit confusing because they tend to suggest that there has been government consultation, but it is obvious from the motion that there has not been. People are very concerned. It is a concern of the opposition that such a dramatic change in school culture and education practices is happening and that those who are most affected are not being included.

This has ramifications right around regional South Australia. I have been advised that 150 schools have been earmarked for this so-called education revolution of the state government in closing and amalgamating schools. I put it to the Premier that, if the super schools concept is such a great idea—and I know how this premier works—he would be doing this in marginal seats. However, he is not doing it in marginal seats: he is doing it in the safest seats that Labor holds. He is doing it in regional South Australia for one reason alone, because it does not matter. The Labor Party does not care what happens in the regions and they know that their seats are very safe in those areas where they are building the super schools and they know that there will not be any political ramifications when it goes badly wrong.

It is interesting that, at a time when this government is looking at increasing the size of schools in bringing in the super school concept, similar societies around the world are closing their super schools and going back to community schools, for the very reasons that have been raised by parents who have contacted me.

Ms BREUER (Giles) (12:58): I am feeling very angry, so I am being told to control myself by the Government Whip. For her benefit, I will control myself. I have never heard such rubbish in my life as the member opposite has just dished out to us. I wish people would mind their own business and keep in their patch. This is exactly what happened with country health where the Liberal Party came in and created problems where there did not need to be problems.

They are trying to do exactly the same thing with this issue. They are trying to hijack this education issue and create problems in our communities. Just keep out and mind your own business. There have been some issues in Whyalla where this process has gone on for almost two years. Unfortunately—or fortunately perhaps, as I do not know what the end result will be—the federal money has now become available, and that is why decisions have to be made a lot more quickly than was proposed in the past.

That is exactly what it is all about. It is not about things being hidden and decisions being made in a hurry. It is about the fact that the federal money is there, so we now have an opportunity to have enough money to build these beautiful schools that are proposed. In the past, I have wondered where the money would come from to build this super school, but now we have an opportunity to do it, and that is what the urgency is all about. It is not about hiding or secret squirrel or anything else.

I have some issues with the process that has happened in Whyalla and I have made that quite clear in my community. All the way through I have said we have to consult with the wider community, not just the school community, and I have told the minister that consistently. We have tried to get it to happen. Suddenly, it has come to a head. The community now is aware and I want my community to make sensible decisions based on what is best for our children.

I do not know whether or not I want a super school—I have not made up my mind yet—but I want my community to make a decision that is sensible and looks at all the issues. I do not want it based on crap that is put around by the Liberal Party, statements that are made, getting people stirred up. I am dealing with my people in my community, as I know the member for Frome is for the people in his community. We are trying to get a sensible decision from our people. We do not want to lose our heritage, no, but we also want the best for our kids. That is really important. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.


[Sitting suspended from 13:01 to 14:00]


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