White flight from "multicultural" schools now in Australia too

Australia's stupid bitch of a Deputy Prime Minster deliberately ignores the safety and educational quality issues behind the "flight"

PARENTS should be happy for their children to undergo a multicultural experience in NSW public schools, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said. Ms Gillard was responding to a report that public schools in NSW were suffering "white flight" as Anglo-European students avoided racially diverse institutions.

Ms Gillard, the federal education minister, said parents always had the choice of the best school for their children. "Part of growing up and part of being an adult in Australia today is you have got to have the ability to mix in multicultural Australia," she told ABC Radio. "I would have thought that parents would value as part of the education experience, their child being in multicultural Australia, learning about different cultures, learning about diversity because that is the nation they are going to live in."

The 2006 survey conducted by the NSW Secondary Principals' Council found that in some parts of Sydney and NSW the students were avoiding public schools in favour of independent ones. Fairfax newspapers reported that public schools were being avoided because they were predominantly attended by Lebanese, Muslim, Asian or Aboriginal students. "This is almost certainly white flight from towns in which the public school's enrolment consists increasingly of indigenous students," the report said. "The pattern is repeated in the Sydney region. Based on comments from principals, this most likely consists of flight to avoid Islamic students and communities."

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Kids removed from violent school and frog-like bureaucrats go crap, crap, crap

A third of the school's students are black -- so nothing can be done, of course. The mother just needs to appreciate multiculturalism and ignore the fact that her kids are getting beaten up



Violence at Cooktown State School has forced one mum into a daily 160km [100 mile] dirt-road trek in a bid to keep her children safe. Zachery Tholen, 8, and his sister Charlotte , 7, are now thriving at Rossville State School, 300km north of Cairns, their mother Dayna Tholen, 32, told The Cairns Post.

But after the family moved to Cooktown in April 2007, the children endured months of physical abuse, Ms Tholen said. "They were scared to go to school," she said. "It was a constant thing. He (Zac) got hit in the face six times. "One side of his face was all swollen. "He was all shaken up." Zachery was also kicked repeatedly in the crotch by a six-year-old student, sworn at, pushed and slapped, his mother said. Charlotte suffered cuts after being shoved off playground equipment. "It's an everyday occurrence," Ms Tholen said. "It happens to everybody."

Other parents reported excessive swearing, teachers forced to resort to yelling, a child head-butting a teacher, students spitting on each other and students selling marijuana at the gate of the adjoining high school, Ms Tholen said.

"They're not acknowledging that there is a problem," she said. "People say it happens everywhere, but this is our fourth school and no it doesn't happen everywhere." More teachers could help instil discipline at the school, she said. "I'd be happy to see the cane brought back, but that's never going to happen," she said.

The school run to Rossville, 40km each way, twice a day, was "hairy" Ms Tholen acknowledged. "The roads have been washed away and we've moved debris off the road so we could pass. "We were out moving logs back into the river." But since starting the new year at Rossville in January, she said: "They're enjoying school, that's the main thing. I'd do anything for them."

In a statement, Education Queensland said a review of Cooktown State School's Responsible Behaviour Plan would be complete by the end of Term One. Staff were available to address behaviour management issues which included a second deputy principal, a guidance officer and a part-time teacher who provided behaviour support, the department said. The school principal was also happy to meet concerned parents or community members.

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Jindal education proposals opposed by teacher unions

Comment from a Louisiana reader: "Governor Jindal continues to bring change. Seems the teacher unions are a little disturbed by Gov. Jindal's new proposals. He is advocating for a “school choice” program, merit pay, and a tax credit of up to $5,000 per student for parents who send children to private schools, or teach them at home. The education battles begin in a special session starting Sunday. It will be interesting to see if Louisiana is the next state to advance the school choice movement in our country. This is an example of how government has to really get bad before it gets better - remember the weak leadership of Kathleen Blanco and the utter failure during Hurricane Katrina.

Teacher unions say Gov. Bobby Jindal's education proposals will steer money from public schools and won't offer adequate pay for teachers or support workers. The Republican governor's proposals include several that unions have repeatedly opposed over the years, including a "school choice" program, merit pay, and a tax credit of up to $5,000 per student for parents who send children to private schools or teach them at home. "I didn't expect what is now appearing to be, it looks like to me, an ideological agenda. This is right off the pages of what I would expect (Washington) to roll down," Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday.

A $1,000 pay raise proposed for teachers falls below the amount sought by the unions. And Jindal isn't recommending any raises for cafeteria workers, teacher's aides and other support workers, though union leaders say many barely earn above the poverty level. The unions supported a Democrat in the fall election.

The first education battle between the governor's office and the teacher groups begins in a special session that starts Sunday. Jindal wants lawmakers to give families with children in private schools an individual income tax deduction for tuition costs, with parents of homeschooled children getting a tax deduction for education expenses. The deduction, capped at $5,000 per student, would cost about $20 million a year. "We want to make sure that every family is able to find a school that best fits their needs," Jindal said.

Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoed a similar proposal last year. Teacher unions and public school advocacy groups called the tax break a backdoor "voucher" proposal to funnel state dollars to private schools.

Monaghan said a similar proposal in Arizona widened the gap between poor students and those whose parents made enough money to send them to private schools. He said it appears to violate the constitutional mandate that the state provide a sound education for every child. The program "would move our focus and our attention to providing an incentive for folks to move to private, parochial education and a reward for folks that already have their children there," he said.

Louisiana Association of Educators President Joyce Haynes said her union disagrees with any proposals that provide incentives to steer state dollars to private schools that don't have to take every student or meet the same testing standards as public schools. "We want great public schools for every child, so we must continue to fight any issue that would take moneys from our public schools. We should be pouring money into our public schools and into educating our children," Haynes said.

Monaghan and Haynes also oppose two items tucked into the governor's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1: a $20 million "flexible funding" pool for local school districts to distribute to teachers based on their performance and a $10 million "School Choice Initiative" that would let students use state money to attend private and parochial schools in New Orleans. Those items will be debated during budget discussions in the regular legislative session that begins March 31.

Teachers don't believe their performance can be fairly measured against each other because of the differing situations by district and classroom, and they don't think their pay should be tied to test scores, Monagahan said. He said the program was proposed without discussions with teacher groups and without clear definitions of how performance would be judged. Jindal administration officials said they will provide clear explanations of the policy plans for the money as lawmakers comb through the budget in greater detail.

The two union leaders also said while Jindal's budget crafters may call the $10 million pilot program a "School Choice Initiative," it's a voucher program — and the unions oppose voucher programs. "What's the difference between this and vouchers?" Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, asked Jindal administration officials Wednesday.

The governor's top budget adviser, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, said the program would offer scholarships to students in New Orleans that they could use to go to any school of their choice. She said it was new money being provided for the program, not diverted money from public education. "We're not taking money away from the public school system," Davis said. She told Peterson the administration was still working to develop the policies for the program.

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Texas Bible class lawsuit ends with agreement

ODESSA, Texas - Both sides in a lawsuit challenging a school district's Bible course claimed victory after they agreed to allow the course to continue but with curriculum developed by a superintendent-appointed committee of local educators. A mediator developed the proposal, which was approved Wednesday by the Ector County Independent School District's trustees and earlier in the week by plaintiffs.

The high school elective, approved in 2005, teaches the King James version of the sacred text using material produced by the Greensboro, N.C.-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. Plaintiffs had claimed the Bible course violated their religious liberty.

The mediator's plan calls for a committee of seven local educators to develop the coursework. The curriculum must meet criteria set by state law and the class will be offered beginning in the 2008-09 school year.

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