Who really believes anything this party espouses?

Their new leader will be a choice of Bob Carr,Kevin Rudd or some B grade union hack.

I think the very worst thing that happened to teaching, was the teachers union!
While the connection between class sizes and outcomes is incontestable.
A unionised workforce, I believe, can and does protect drones and incompetents.
As a former business owner operator, I kept unions out of my business, by paying non-union staff 10% above the Unionised average.
This kept clock watchers and lazy layabouts, who wouldn't work in an iron lung, or those who habitually had a liquid lunch, off the premises.
Moreover, I never asked another to do what I couldn't do myself, and invariably led from the front and by example.
Attending a annual staff party, I met the spouse of one of the workers, who turned out to be a high school English teacher.
This man, well into his cups, proudly boosted that he only turned up for the money, never marked homework, recycled and or regurgitated class assignments and or lessons from previous years, which included student overload reading assingments.
Still in his mid thirties, knew nothing of keyboards or computers.
His Principle couldn't sack him, because his Principle had neither the power to hire or fire; but had his staff, good, bad or indifferent, imposed on him by a centralised bureaucracy.
Moreover this couldn't care less deadbeat, was protected by a militant union!
I'm all for good teachers getting what they're worth, and for ensuring they work in an environment, where good teachers excel!
This means we must focus on outcomes, and not whether we can get more bang for the education buck, with larger class sizes.
Predictably, a call coming from a privileged set, who simply want to entrench privilege rather than excellence?
Our kids are our future, and we should be doing what's possible to ensure that that future, is given the very best chance to be as bright as possible! Even if that means, means testing the education dollar, to maximise true equity outcomes, and the excellence we should be striving for!
Yesterday I coodent spell university student, now I are one.
Rhrosty.

Why don't we have Arjay and Hasbeen running the education system.
The Gonsky report was very comprehensive. Here it sounds as though he does not know what he is talking about.
We either patch up a system that has seen better days or take the option of recommendations.

Come on Rhrosty "While the connection between class sizes and outcomes is incontestable", what utter garbage.

I went through Qld system to age 9, in classes all over 40, & learnt heaps. We were set 10 words to learn to spell, pronounce & understand every night, were tested the next day, & copped it if we hadn't done the work. We then moved to NSW, class size 26, where nothing like this happened, & never learnt to spell another word.

Class size has nothing to do with it, given decent discipline. It is teaching technique, & constant testing that counts.

Most testing is actually testing the teacher, but a bit of pressure, even if not real is good for kids. Pressure is part of getting prepared for real life, not some feminist ideal, of what life should be.

You bet your boots we should 579. Gonski & his mates in the university system have a proven record of failure, & are in no way suitable to recommend how to improve education.

His elite background, & the fact he has made a very big quid actually show he is so far removed from the poor mug going through a government school system as to be the worst possible type to have advising how to run that system.

Having him suggest how to run a government school system is the equivalent of having Clive Palmer designing the union system.

Hasbeen,

"...& never learnt to spell another word."

Oh come now, if children are reading, they're learning to spell.

My son has never had a formal spelling lesson in his life, and he spells well. If he doesn't know how to spell something, he either asks me or looks it up in a dictionary.

Why do we think we have to ram every bit of information into young minds - give them some academic autonomy and they will do it themselves as a matter of course.

Yes Poirot, & I had a kid at school with me who, used to hide a Greek mythology book inside his math book, to read while we were doing math 2 honors for matriculation. Some kids are just smart.

But then, those of us who are little dyslexic can have trouble writing the letters in the right order, even when we can spell the word. That Queensland method sure helped many of us. I don't mind being rammed, when it is to my advantage.

Perhaps you think we can do away with all schools, if kids can learn it all for themselves with a bit of autonomy. That would let us make huge cuts in the education budget, rather than throw money at it.

You evidently agree that most testing is to test teachers, which is something.