Education Revolution

Drifiting off during Question Time yesterday it was tempting to wonder what Evesham State School looked like and what its one student might do with a $250,000 library all to herself.

What if the one student at this school is some kind of genius who needs to read 35 books each afternoon Good Will Hunting style?

Well, after contacting Evesham State School in remote central Queensland it turns out it hasn’t received a cent of the fabled $250,000 and, according to its principal and teacher, it won’t receive any of it.

Continue reading "The one-pupil school isn’t getting any money after all" »

Yesterday saw a pretty poor parliamentary performance from the person widely regarded as the best performer in the Government.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was tickled up by the opposition on a range of Government pressure points - importantly the question of misdirected stimulus spending, whether the signage at schools benefiting from the plan amounts to advertising and its promise that nobody would be worse off under new IR awards.

Of course the star performer isn’t just deputy Prime Minister, she’s Education Minister, Minister for Employment Workplace Relations minister and Social Inclusion Minister. And this is the point: Education and IR and the two portfolios that are right at the pointy end of policy and politics and the moment and it’s fair to ask whether the pressure of this super-portfolio is starting to get to Gillard.

Continue reading "Is Gillard starting to buckle under the pressure?" »