It is clear Nick McKim has no intention of even monitoring the impact of school budget cuts on students.

When asked about what monitoring would occur the Minister instead went on a rave about his $4.2m new Principal Network Leader positions he has created during this time of slashed school budgets.

Minister, this extra layer of bureaucracy is not there to monitor the impact of your ruthless cuts, and if you re-directed the $4.2 million from these positions to schools many of these cuts could be avoided.

A survey of Principals by the Public Education Alliance recently found that schools’ discretionary funding would be reduced by up to 27 per cent next year as a result of Mr McKim’s cuts to school budgets.

It also confirmed areas most likely to be cut include teacher aides for students with additional needs and literacy and numeracy programs.  The Minister doesn’t want to monitor the impact of his short sighted cuts to school budgets – because like the Liberals, the Minister knows full well that students’ education will suffer and most disadvantaged will be those most in need.

Comments from Principals include:

- ‘My expectation, as they ramp up accountability on fewer resources, is that there will be less ability to provide for our high and additional needs kids’

- ‘class sizes will rise by approximately 2.5 students in each class taking them to around 27 or 28, we will be down 1 teaching staff member and possibly 2’

- ‘we will lose around $70K from our budget; we have not determined where the cuts will be made – It’s a difficult if not impossible task.’

Mr McKim is no friend to our schools and is failing Tasmanian students by refusing to put their educational needs first.  He has ruthlessly slashed funding to schools with scant regard for the impact, calling the cuts “the right thing to do”.

How can Tasmania hope to LIFT educational outcomes when the responsible Minister is cutting education to the bone?

Only the Liberal Party has Education as a priority with a plan to invest $60 million in schools instead of trying to close them.  The ridiculous accusations that the Liberals’ don’t support educational leadership shows that the Green-Labor Government fails to understand what the current funding priorities are for our education system.

A survey of Principals by the Public Education Alliance has given an alarming insight into the very real impact of Minister McKim’s savage cuts to school budgets.

I am horrified that teacher aides, literacy and support programs, and music and drama programs have been identified by Principals as among the most likely resources to go.

This is not the fault of schools who work hard to stretch every dollar for the benefit of their students, this is the Minister’s fault – he is the one who has slashed school resources.

Mr McKim has indicated in Parliament he is aware of the ramifications of these cuts to school budgets and that they are the right thing to do.

We saw how out of touch this Minister was in the way he tried to close schools, we are seeing that same arrogance on display now in relation to budget cuts to schools.

I challenge Mr McKim to have a heart, admit once again he got it wrong and look for savings that do not impact directly on students.

It is about priorities Minister and students must be put first.

Only the Liberal Party has Education as a priority with a plan to invest an extra $60 million in schools instead of bleeding them dry or trying to close them down.

A survey of Principals by the Public Education Alliance has given an alarming insight into the very real impact of Minister McKim’s savage cuts to school budgets.  I am horrified that teacher aides, literacy and support programs, and music and drama programs have been identified by Principals as among the most likely resources to go.

This is not the fault of schools who work hard to stretch every dollar for the benefit of their students, this is the Minister’s fault – he is the one who has slashed school resources.

Mr McKim has indicated in Parliament he is aware of the ramifications of these cuts to school budgets and that they are the right thing to do.
We saw how out of touch this Minister was in the way he tried to close schools, we are seeing that same arrogance on display now in relation to budget cuts to schools.

I challenge Mr McKim to have a heart, admit once again he got it wrong and look for savings that do not impact directly on students.  It is about priorities Minister and students must be put first.

Only the Liberal Party has Education as a priority with a plan to invest an extra $60 million in schools instead of bleeding them dry or trying to close them down.

The Liberals oppose Mr McKim reducing the funding ratio to non-government schools and we have moved a motion in parliament this week condemning the Government’s betrayal of the 30 per cent of families who choose a non-government school.

The Liberals have fought tooth-and nail for our public schools around Tasmanian – especially those under continued threat of closure by Labor and the Greens.  However, Mr McKim needs to realise that as Minister for Education he is there to work for all school children and that it is wrong to target one sector for more savage cuts than another.

But that is exactly what Mr Mckim is doing by breaking the funding formula agreement that has been in place with Catholic and independent schools since 1998; and revising the funding ratio down to 18.5 per cent.

As a result, non-government schools are copping an extra five per cent cut to their funding – on top of the $190 million being ripped out of education state-wide as a result of the Green-Labor Government’s financial mismanagement.

We are being told that this additional cut will mean an increase of up to 14 per cent per in school fees – an increase that many families simply won’t be able to afford.

Tasmanian families have already been hit with the spiralling cost of living as a result of government incompetence and this latest increase will mean that many families will struggle to maintain their children’s enrolment and some will have to make the difficult decision to change schools and put further pressure on the stressed public school system.

Mr McKim and Labor are known for their ideological opposition to schools that are not government-run. What they fail to realise is that non-government schools play a vital role in educating Tasmanian children and represent a significant saving to the public purse.

It is unacceptable that Tasmanian schools and students have to suffer because the Government can’t manage its money.

During the budget process, I challenged the Education Minister about these cuts, and he was unable to offer a reasoned response as to why these schools will are getting a double whammy. In fact, he seemed to not even understand the decision that his government had made.

The Minister must immediately outline to Tasmanians whether or not he really believes these unexpected cuts are fair, and what he intends to do to ensure that families are not forced out of non-government education into public schools at much greater expense to the Tasmanian taxpayer.

An AEU commissioned report by the University of Newcastle has confirmed what parents and the Opposition have been saying for months – the Labor-Green Government’s savage cuts to the education budget are likely to reduce student performance and retention, increase class sizes, make it harder for schools to teach all curriculum areas and make vulnerable schools an even easier target for closure.

It is appalling that the Government is prepared to sacrifice the futures of Tasmanian children to pay for its own financial mismanagement.

Of particular concern is the report’s conclusion that it is disadvantaged students with special needs and from low socio economic backgrounds who will be most heavily impacted by Mr McKim’s $190 million worth of cuts.

And this is the man who told voters that he would spend an extra $200 million on education!

Rather than shooting the messenger, as I expect he will try to do, the Minister must sit up and take notice of this damning report.

How can Tasmania hope to lift educational outcomes when the responsible Minister is cutting education to the bone with no sign of a policy to lift our teaching and learning?

Mr McKim is no friend to Tasmanian school children. 

Only the Liberal party has Education as a priority with a plan to invest $60 million in schools, instead of trying to close them down.  Only the Liberal party has a plan to address student retention and create a job ready generation by extending high schools to year 12.

We believe in supporting all students to reach their individual potential in life. Boosting our education and skill levels is a key strategy to lift the Tasmanian economy in the long term.