John Morris, Sydney
The February council meeting of the NSW Teachers Federation endorsed the Australian Education Union's (AEU) call to campaign for the defeat of the federal Coalition government in the coming federal election.
Federation president Maree O'Halloran stated that “public education cannot afford another term” of Prime Minister John Howard's government.
Federal funding of elite private schools has massively increased over the last seven years, while relative funding to state-school students has been reduced under a formula developed by the Liberals.
Howard recently revealed the ideology behind this funding mechanism. He stated that public schools are “too politically correct” and do not teach “values”. The values he aspires to were summed up in his defence of elite private school funding on the basis of “market choice”.
The AEU campaign will feature the slogan, “Public education — it is our future” to be displayed on posters outside public schools and on television adverts.
The campaign would be stronger if joint action was taken with the Tertiary Education Alliance, which includes the National Tertiary Education Union and the National Union of Students. The national protest on the March 31 should be supported with joint actions, such as rallies and meetings, as a show of force in the campaign to oust Howard.
From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.
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