BY NOREEN NAVIN
SYDNEY — Pressure is mounting on Bob Carr's state Labor government to back down on its controversial "Building the Future" plan, which will force the closure of several inner-city high schools.
A rally outside the Department of Education and Training building on May 10 by 300 students, teachers and parents was the latest in a series of actions which show how opposed many local communities are to the plan.
The president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Sue Simpson, opened the rally with a roll call of the various affected schools and their communities, whose representatives screamed and hollered and bellowed as their names were called out.
Their banners read "We care, we learn, we stay" and "We won't go" and they chanted "Massacre Aquilina, not public education", a reference to education minister John Aquilina, who is in the midst of a scandal over his office's false claims that a student was planning a "Columbine High-style" massacre at a suburban school.
Jesse Cox, a year nine student at Leichhardt High School, which is marked for closure, appealed for unity, saying it "doesn't matter what uniform we wear, we are all in this together".
He called on the department to promote public education and thereby promote choice, and criticised state government attempts to "segregate" students by creating single-sex and selective schools and by funding private schools.
"Here's my alternative", he said, "Keep all schools open and fund them adequately".
That message of unity was backed by Terry Denzil, an indigenous activist from Cleveland Street High School, who claimed that "this is going to be another stolen generation if we don't do something to rescue public education".
"The black community has been trodden on for far too long, let's join together and beat the buggers", he said.
Students also spoke from Hunters High and Marrickville High.
The Teachers' Federation's Maree O'Halloran condemned the arrogance of state Labor and the lack of an "effective opposition", while the president of the NSW Federation of Parents' and Citizens' Associations, Bev Baker, said public education was "ours", and belonged to the community and not to government.
The Teachers' Federation's support for the rally arrived at the last minute, taking over the speakers' platform from the Save Our Schools (SOS) coalition which had originally called the action.
The protest came only a week after a fiery meeting at the Annandale Neighbourhood Centre, where the local community opposed outright any plans to close the local Leichhardt High School.
The mood was so angry that the representative of the education department was booed and jeered every time he spoke. The local community is clearly not interested in compromise: they just want their local school kept open.
A forum, "Public Education — How can we save it?", has been organised for May 24 at 6pm at the Herb Reedy Hall, Marrickville Road, Marrickville.
To get involved with the SOS campaign, contact Noreen on 0415 437 997 or John on 0438 064 015.