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The Australian Education Union is urging the federal government to deliver on their election commitment of establishing a pathway to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding for Australia's public schools following the release of the Productivity Commission's review of the National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA).

Every election, state and federal, is an opportunity to draw attention to the gross inequity of Australia’s bizarre schools funding system. No other developed country funds schools the way we do. We are the world leader when it comes to giving public money to private, fee- charging schools. And we languish near the bottom of international rankings when it comes to the percentage of education funding we give to our public schools.

Last year saw a succession of headline- grabbing climate disasters, from unprecedented heatwaves drying Europe’s rivers to catastrophic floods in Pakistan and Australia and the most powerful storms to hit Cuba and the USA

In this story, I share my personal trajectory as a teacher experiencing public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the Brazil countryside and urge stakeholders to reflect on the problems involving such partnerships to education. In addition, I reflect on how such PPPs are a result of the lack of financing in education and on how important it is for stakeholders to advocate for enlarged budgets in the sector in the context of the Transforming Education Summit.

In a recent radio interview with 4BC, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said students should learn about the atrocities suffered by Indigenous people in Australia. Historical events such as massacres should be part of the Australian history curriculum. Mr Albanese added it was something that should be done without feelings of shame from non-Indigenous teachers.

The SSTUWA has welcomed the decision by the state government to delay the opening of WA’s borders. “While we understand that this will be difficult for many people in the community, it does give more time to make WA schools and TAFEs as safe as possible for those who work and learn there. It is crucial that this time is not wasted,” SSTUWA President Pat Byrne said.