Karl Miller, Canberra
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says he is sorry the decision to close schools across Canberra has caused so much anger in the community. "I don't like the fact I've upset significant numbers of Canberrans", he said on June 23, a day after 1000 people attended a meeting against the proposed closure of Dickson College.
The ACT Labor government's 2006-07 budget, announced on June 6, includes plans for the closure of 39 schools — almost a quarter of Canberra's public schools — over the next three years.
Since the announcement, many school communities have held angry protests in a bid to keep their schools open.
Hundreds of Kambah High School students boycotted the first two hours of classes on June 14 in protest. Kambah High is earmarked for closure at the end of next year. The June 15 Canberra Times reported that Kambah High students "stood on the icy front lawn of the school yesterday, boycotting their first two classes to wave placards bearing slogans such as 'Stanhope gives kids no hope' and 'Kambah cares, the government does not' in a noisy rally".
A meeting of about 200 people was held at Cook Primary School on June 15 to express their outrage and to commit to saving the school, which is scheduled for closure at the end of 2007.
The ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations (P&C) has called for the school closures to be delayed until 2008. The ACT Greens are planning to introduce a bill in the ACT Legislative Assembly in August to put the government's school closure plan on hold for the next 18 months.
Meanwhile, Canberra teachers remain locked in a pay dispute with Stanhope's government. The Australian Education Union (AEU) says the dispute, which began in February, is "a result of the ACT government's intransigence and failure to make teachers an acceptable salary offer, and their decision to unilaterally change conditions of employment and to cut teaching positions outside of the bargaining process".
In April, the ACT government made an offer of a 4.6% pay rise to public school teachers, but tied it to their accepting the elimination of 136 teaching jobs.
On June 26, AEU members will stop work in protest, with a mass meeting followed by a rally outside the Legislative Assembly.
The ACT P&C, and other campaign groups, are supporting the AEU stop-work, calling on people to attend the AEU rally to protest the school closures as well as supporting the teachers in their pay dispute with the government.
Along with the attacks on public education, and several other harsh measures, the ACT budget maintained funding for private schools and included pay rises for MPs and top government bureaucrats.
From Green Left Weekly, June 28, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.