no extra funding for public schools but more funds for private schools...

Gonski funding is designed to ensure all children are educated in schools that have the right resources to meet their needs.

This funding began in 2014, after the independent Gonski Review warned too many children were missing out due to a lack of resources.

The review, headed by respected businessman, David Gonski, said Australia was under-investing in education and there were alarming gaps in achievement between students from different backgrounds.

Under the Gonski plan, all schools are funded according to the individual needs of their students and what is required to educate them to a high level.

Schools can use the additional resources to better meet the individual needs of students. Things they can do include:

• Reducing class sizes

• Employing additional specialist teachers in areas such as literacy and numeracy

• Providing greater assistance and support for students with disabilities or behavioural problems

• Building the skills and knowledge of teachers through increased training.

Gonski in action

Five state and territory governments in 2013 signed agreements with the Federal Government to follow the Gonski plan and improve the way schools are resourced.

Those agreements specify the level of funding each government must contribute over six years from 2014 to get to a point where all schools have the right level of resources.

States that did not sign agreements (WA, the NT and QLD) are receiving 4 years of federal Gonski funding but have not contributed their own one third share.

Where the funding is being delivered, schools are reporting that it is making a real difference for students.

So what is the problem?

The problem is that the Turnbull Government wants to stop Gonski funding after next year.

That means children across Australia will be denied the resources and the opportunities they need to get a good education.

The financial impact of this decision will be huge because the majority of the funding is due to flow from the Federal Government to schools in the final two years.

In NSW alone, it means schools will miss out on funding that could pay for four teachers, on average.

The Commonwealth government's budget decision is more than a breach of a commitment with the NSW government, it is a breach of faith with all school students in the state.  NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli

The Federal Government has also failed to deliver on its election commitment to extend Gonski funding in 2015 to all students with disability

We can change this

Getting the right resources into schools to ensure all our children get a high quality education should be something all politicians can agree on.

We need a bi-partisan commitment to delivering Gonski, in full, from all state and federal political leaders.

By signing up for the Gonski campaign you can join over 160,000 other Australians who believe all children should be educated in well-resourced schools.

http://www.igiveagonski.com.au/whats_gonski?gclid=CNvd-LWx88sCFQ1vvAod5RwOQA

 

3.  Yanks want Japanese subs for Australia

Who will build Australia's next fleet of submarines is a big deal not least because its worth $50 billion to the winning bidder. Then there's the geo-politics.

Last year the German Government flew myself and three other Australian journalists to Berlin to examine Germany's innovation and start-up sector.  The last day of our itinerary involved a trip north to Thyssenkrupp's Marine Systems' (TKMS) shipyards in Kiel. There's no doubt the Germans popped the corks when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott because the former PM was set to give the contract to Japan, a position his former national security advisor Andrew Shearer has reiterated in The Australian. In the same publication, Mr Abbott's close friend, Greg Sheridan reports the Americans do want Australia to choose Japan to strengthen the alliance (the advances are all made below the radar so there's a lot of coded messages and ambiguity about this stuff.)

The Japanese off-the-shelf option would have killed Australian shipbuilding and it was only the intervention of South Australian Liberal Senator Sean Edwards, who traded his leadership vote for a tender process that completely changed the game for the Australian industry. Now, the companies are offering to train the local workforce to build the best subs possible and, despite what the Americans want, the Germans think they are still a strong chance because choosing Japan could upset China...

As for the decision? The PM said on Sunday: "we will make a decision, we, the government, will make a decision shortly. But whether it is before the election, obviously, depends on the timing of the election. But you can be rest assured that the decision will be taken after... with great care."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/inappropriate-brilliant-sometimes-infuriating--tributes-flow-for-bob-ellis-20160403-gnxf42.html#ixzz44nhvWwKx
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Rest assure that the contracts will go to Japan AFTER the elections... Should the "Japanese" great care be taken before the election, this would cost 4 points in Malcolm Turnbum election prospects... Thus the awarding of the Subs contracts will be announced AFTER the elections, with fanfares and bendover...

 

 

 

Turnbull told the media after the COAG meeting on Friday: "We are determined to ... use the resources we have more efficiently. And we believe all levels of Government can do that… The focus should be on outcomes, not ... harking back to unfunded promises that were made years ago."

The PM further developed the point yesterday, fending off a question about Tony Abbott's behaviour to emphasise that voters would choose between himself and Bill Shorten on polling day.

"The choice is between a government which has an economic plan for growth, for investment, for innovation, for greater productivity, stronger competition for open markets, for better jobs," Turnbull said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/matthewson-turnbull's-crazy-brave-strategy/7295862

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Every time Turnbutt (the T is very close the L on my keyboard) talks about "investments, innovation and efficiency" for "stronger competition, open markets and better jobs", I shiver. It smells of a rotten sewer confluent. 

His innovation package IS A GIGANTIC HOAX performed on the general public and has as much innovation in it as a kilo of carrots sprayed with round-up to make the mechanical harvesting faster. I am not joking. Stop buying carrots without the foliage. Al those bright red carrots in your supper market with no foliage are likely to have been sprayed with Round-Up (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) prior to harvesting so that the leaves are not in the way of the mechanical gizmos. 

The decimation of essential service by the CSIRO is Turnbutt's major legacy in the "innovation" area. The list of magic and slay of hands can dazzle the public but the whole political vision of Turnbutt is a fraud, full of con-tricks and is basically dishonest. 

 

Giving the states full responsibility for funding public schools, as proposed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, would be the biggest mistake in the history of Australian education policy, according to NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli.

A war of words has erupted between the NSW and federal education ministers just months before the federal election, with Mr Piccoli accusing his Coalition colleague, Simon Birmingham, of making "incomprehensible" claims about the relationship between school funding and academic results.

Senator Birmingham shot back, accusing Mr Piccoli of perpetuating "class warfare" and "defying mathematical logic" by calling for extra money from Canberra for NSW schools. 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-worst-idea-ever-piccoli-blasts-pm-on-schools-20160404-gny3gw.html#ixzz44qy8mZRw
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Kogan: For dodgy customer care

‘The customer is king’ might be a retail truism, but according to Choice, it’s not a phrase that rings true at online shopping site Kogan.

In the first half of the year, consumers in New South Wales flooded the state’s complaints register with 300 complaints about the site founded by rich-lister Ruslan Kogan.

“Kogan is a serial offender when it comes to consumer rights,” Choice chief executive Alan Kirkland said.

The company must simplify its refunds, repairs, and replacements processes to “community expectations and the law”, Mr Kirkland said.

“Kogan needs to improve its customer service and stop beating around the bush when its products are defective,” he said.

 

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/consumer/2019/10/10/choice-shonky-award...

 

Read from top.

 

Like a three-legged kangaroo...: