Piccoli must guarantee no school will be worse off
Posted: Tuesday, 27 March 2012 | By: Carmel Tebbutt
Education Minister Adrian Piccoli needs to guarantee no school will be left worse off under changes to the way students with disabilities and special needs are funded, the NSW Labor Opposition said today.
Shadow Minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt said she was concerned some primary and high schools could lose funding for students with disabilities and special needs under the changes outlined by the Education Minister today.
"The O'Farrell Government needs to give an iron clad guarantee that no school will be left worse off under the changes to the way students with disabilities and special needs are funded," Ms Tebbutt said.
"Under this plan, larger schools could face losing vital funding for students with disabilities and special needs.
"This is simply not on. There shouldn’t be winners and losers in this plan.
"While we welcome the additional funding provided by the Commonwealth, the O'Farrell Government cannot use this as an excuse to cut their own funding commitments to NSW schools.
"Parents have raised concerns that by assessing schools according to the prevalence of autism in the community, schools which have a higher than average proportion of students with autism could be disadvantaged.
"We know that there has been a great deal of concern and anxiety amongst parents and school communities regarding these reforms.
"Parents do not have confidence in the Education Minister Adrian Piccoli to deliver complex reforms for students with disabilities and special needs.
"This is the same Minister who left students with disabilities stranded without school transport and broke a string of election promises, most notably his promise to replace unflued gas heaters.
"We need a firm commitment from the Education Minister today that no school will be left worse off under these changes."
Tags: Adrian Piccoli, Carmel Tebbutt, children, disability, education, transport