By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A lurid-green ‘Gonski bus’ has hit the roads around Berwick and Narre Warren as it campaigns against alleged federal funding cuts to schools.
The bus visited Berwick Fields Primary School, Narre Warren P-12 College and Berwick Secondary College on 15 March as part of a national tour of schools in the the Australian Education Union’s ‘I Give a Gonski’ campaign.
The AEU delegation planned to deliver the union’s report on Gonski funding results to La Trobe Liberal MP Jason Wood’s office in Berwick that afternoon.
However, its Gonski bus-driver reportedly refused to drive down the adjoining Langmore Lane, and Mr Wood’s office staff denied they were paid a visit by the campaigners.
The AEU argue that the federal government plans to end Gonski needs-based funding for schools after 2017 despite the increased funding delivering smaller classes, targeted literacy and numeracy programs and more one-to-one support for students.
Schools in La Trobe could lose up to $28 million if the Gonski agreements were not “honoured”, AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said.
“Malcolm Turnbull can find $50 billion for a corporate tax cut, but he can’t find a fraction of that funding to make sure our children get the support they need at school.”
Mr Wood said the government was trying to fix 27 different “deals” made across the country, which were a “corruption” of the Gonski report author’s needs-based recommendations.
“There have not been, nor will there be, any Commonwealth government cuts,” Mr Wood said.
“Not only has our level of real funding for both government and non-government schools grown over the last decade, it has grown at a much faster rate than state funding.”
Mr Wood said the alleged $28 million funding cut was based on ‘cuts’ to a Labor election promise in 2013.
“It was neither funded nor budgeted for beyond 2017 and which remain unfunded under Labor’s current policies.”
