By Adam Hanieh and Melanie Sjoberg
ADELAIDE — Schools look set to enter the world of outsourcing and privatisation if the state Liberal government has its way. The South Australian Institute of Teachers (SAIT) and the Public Service Association (PSA) are opposing the push for job cuts and outsourcing of school support staff.
School services officers (SSOs) are a crucial part of any school. They perform administrative and security tasks including managing the finances and stores, maintaining the libraries, equipment and student records, checking laboratory safety and ensuring information gets out to parents.
As a result of this year's budget, as many as 500 SSOs could face the chop. In addition, a change to the staffing formula may mean that, for a typical high school with 45 teachers, more than 33 staff hours per week may be cut.
To add insult to injury, dozens of SSOs have recently been rejected by the Department of Education and Children's Services (DECS) for either permanent positions or reclassification that would accurately reflect the level of responsibility they carry.
SSOs have not traditionally been politically active, but the latest round of attacks have mobilised many. A range of bans have been imposed by PSA members in an attempt to demonstrate the difficulties that will arise from reduced staff hours. A publicity and community awareness program is being coordinated, and the PSA and SAIT are working together on other activities.
The School Principals Association is supporting the campaign and has organised a rally on August 17 at the Dom Polski Centre.
A giant UK multinational operation, Serco, has proposed to the government that it could run school administrations more effectively. DECS is currently considering this option and possible pilot areas. Several schools have already rejected this "reform".
Serco, with a history of involvement in the defence industry (it has contracts at Puckapunyal and Wagga Wagga) and not education, is hardly qualified for the job.
If Serco wins the contract, SA students, teachers and parents will be the big losers. Serco has already indicated that in the interest of "economic advantage" staff cuts would be likely.
The move to privatise school staff is part of a broader program of school restructuring, including devolution.
Devolution is supposed to give individual schools more control over their administration including, eventually, the hiring and firing of staff and financial managers. The reality, however, is that it will allow the government to reduce the education budget by forcing schools to raise their own funds. SAIT president Clare McCarty described devolution as a shift in decision making without the cheque book as education budgets will still be controlled centrally.
Devolution is being sold as the way to "empower local communities". Parents, students and teachers will supposedly have more say in running the school. However, the real picture is a far cry from this. In England, with devolution in place for a number of years, the two-tiered education system is very pronounced.
Schools become responsible for raising their own finances and therefore have to compete with one another to attract wealthy clientele. Schools with wealthier parents end up with better resources, than those with children of less well off parents. Many schools offer deals with private companies to attract enrolments. Businesses advertise extensively in schools and some schools hire fundraising consultants. Schools in Kent charge $600-800 for billboards advertising Wella Hair care products and Weetbix.
The SA state government is moving to replace permanent staff with contract teachers. This is having a dramatic effect on school staffing. From Term 3 a new scheme known as "school choice" will be introduced. Participating schools will be able to advertise for staff outside normal education department procedures. School principals will then be able to hire whom they wish.
Another pilot project — "business management in schools" — has recently been launched in the south-east of the state. This project aims to devolve administrative tasks with the incentive that schools can keep any money saved. This is another step towards the full devolution of financial management which will leave some schools with better resources than others.
Not surprisingly, Serco is an enthusiastic supporter of devolution. One of the tasks outlined in Serco's contract is the marketing of school facilities, sponsorship and fundraising.