President's Message

Greetings to all our Principals,

Halfway through term one, a federal election about to drop and our own media full of the second coming of Trump and how and if we will jump on the ‘policy’ bandwagon. If you have missed it so far here is the state of play in education in the US. ABC in the US reports President Trump has indicated he wants to disband the cabinet-level Department of Education.  The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration on Wednesday 19 Feb cancelled $226 million in federal grants earmarked for meetings and reports on diversity needs in K-12 schools. According to the Guardian: “During Trump’s first term in office, his proposed cuts to the Department of Education were rejected by Congress. Sources in the current Trump administration claim the president plans to issue an executive order abolishing the department… Trump has cited a desire to return education to the states.”

Department of Education Quarterly Principal Meeting

On the 13^th of February I attended the Department of Education Quarterly Principal Meeting which had three main topics on the agenda; the First Nations Teacher Strategy, an update on Better and Fairer Schools and thirdly what the Quarterly Principal Meeting would look like going forward.

First Nations Teacher Strategy.

The Australian Government will allocate $2.4 million to develop and implement the First Nations Teacher Strategy. The Strategy will help attract and retain more First Nations teachers, which is a key recommendation of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.

The Strategy will outline barriers and enabling elements for First Nations teachers, as well as areas for targeted national efforts to accelerate First Nations teaching outcomes, complementing state and territory initiatives.

• Initial work on development of the Strategy will focus on:
• Improving First Nations completion rates for initial teacher education
• Successfully transitioning First Nations peoples into teaching roles
• Supporting First Nations peoples in teaching roles
• Building cultural responsiveness across education settings.

A First Nations Teacher Strategy is a key action under the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan. Increasing the number of First Nations teachers is intended to promote improved cultural understanding and respect for First Nations perspectives in education and support positive educational outcomes for First Nations students.

Better and Fairer Schools

The briefing focussed on Jurisdictions signed (WA, NT, SA, ACT, TAS, VIC) rather than those not (NSW, QLD), The deal on offer is essentially that the 20% is now a floor rather than a limit and the Australian Government will increase its share of funding from 20 per cent to 22.5 per cent of the SRS by 2026, contingent on the signed governments increasing their funding share to at least 77.5 per cent of the SRS by 2026.

This additional funding is intended to drive reforms that benefit all students, with a particular focus on those most in need of additional support.

From a CaSPA perspective the feeling is that ACT Catholic schools are still relatively poorly funded and NT Catholic schools are critically impacted by losing teachers to better paying state schools.

CaSPA and ACPPA have approached Jacinta Collins (NCEC) to give us a publishable analysis comparing the funding positions of major parties well ahead of the upcoming Federal Election.

Dept Ed Quarterly Principal Meeting 

The various peak principal groups are seeking a firming of the meeting schedule. A federal position paper on Parental Behaviour Expectations has been asked for. The meeting was notified that AITSL are now consulting with professional associations (including principal groups) on:

• Indigenous awareness
• HALTS
• Professional Standards for Middle Leaders

 Professional Associations Forum (PAF) facilitated by AITSL

On 20 February I attended the first of these Forums. The primary objectives of the Forum are to:

• advise AITSL Management on work AITSL is progressing to promote excellence in teaching and school leadership to maximise impact on student learning in all Australian schools
• optimise the relevance and usefulness of AITSL’s work to schools supporting them to be fit for purpose.

The Forum will undertake the following functions:

• drawing on knowledge of identified enablers and barriers relevant to AITSL’s responsibilities in promoting excellence in teaching and school leadership, provide feedback and advice on AITSL policies, resources, and initiatives relating to school leadership, quality teaching, schooling and workforce issues, and professional learning
• provide updates and raise any issues on behalf of professional associations and the members they represent that for consideration by Forum Members and AITSL Management.

Our first in-person CaSPA Board meeting will be in Hobart in March with a focus on strategic planning.

Best wishes

Dr Stephen Kennaugh GAICD

CaSPA President