Burrow to speak at education forum

The NSW Teachers Federation will hold a public forum on October 31 at the Parramatta Town Hall with ACTU president Sharan Burrow as the guest speaker. In a media release announcing the forum, Jenny Diamond, the union's acting assistant general secretary (schools), said it would be "final salvo for public education before the federal election".

Diamond said the forum's aim was "to ensure that public education is firmly in the voting public's mind as a national priority and that the teaching profession has 'the last word' on what is best for public education, and what is needed from any future government".

Marlene Carrasco, a parent leading the campaign to save Parramatta's Macquarie Boys High from closure, told Green Left Weekly: "It's good we're having a discussion about public education in Parramatta when we are fighting the closure of a public school in the area. We want to hear about how the Teachers Federation and the ACTU will defend Macquarie Boys High and other public schools.

"The ratio of private school to public school funding is five to one. This is an outrage. There should be no more government funding for private schools."

From GLW issue 728