By Chris Spindler
ADELAIDE — The South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT) has endorsed the union's president, Clare McCarty, as an "Education Independent" for the state elections on December 11. Green Left Weekly spoke to McCarty about the campaign.
"Back in 1990 the Curriculum Guarantee was broken by the Labor government", said McCarty. "It meant losing some 795 teachers and 125 school assistants.
"One year later a further 300 education workers were lost. Then in 1993 a further 230 went. This all added up to a loss of 1500 education workers in the last three years and under a Labor government."
In 1990, the unions' 14,000 members went on strike against the breaking of the Curriculum Guarantee. "The whole membership was mobilised in an attempt to defend the most important aspects of that guarantee — for example, class sizes of 27 maximum.
"Since that time the Labor government has continued to cut funding to education. The government even paid a QC for a year, to defeat the union in the Industrial Relations Commission, when all we were doing was attempting to defend the current award."
What does SAIT hope to achieve through the campaign?
"Through the elections, we are campaigning to return to the standards of 1990", McCarty explained. "In fact, it would only cost the government some $37 million to ... return to that standard.
"We feel that this strategy is already working. We have received a letter from [Premier] Lynn Arnold who said there is some scope for increased resources to reduce class sizes and support the schools project. However, there are no concrete guarantees of funding."
McCarty says the union is looking beyond the election, to "a campaign against either a Liberal or Labor government that attempts to cut education. We've felt what Labor has done over the past years here and seen what has happened to education in other states."
Asked whether this is a "single issue" campaign, McCarty replies, "The main purpose is to raise the profile of education and then do as much as an independent education candidate can do in the upper house to curb any of the cuts put forward by any government that wavers on education.
"Education relates to all things, and everything depends on it. In that way, it is not divorced from any issue. In particular it is linked to employment, the future of the economy and the public sector."
McCarty says the campaign has "1300 organising centres around the state: every kindergarten to every school. Then there are the universities, the parent organisations, other independent and progressive candidates, other public sector unions, even some businesses. The response from the members has been overwhelming.
"This will be a very useful base for a community campaign on education after the election."
An Education Platform will be released outlining SAIT's view of education issues. The union says that the major aim of education should be to assist children and adults to become active participants in a democratic society.
Therefore, education is the right of all. It is a public resource which must be fully and adequately funded by government.
SAIT opposes any attempt to privatise education. Governments should ensure a strong and viable public education system.