Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Australian election issues .. of course education is one and you won't be surprised
to see which party it has been traditionally a strength for .. excerpt that one ..

Education

Education is traditionally a strength for Labor and the Opposition Leader has gone out early with his key policy announcements in this area.

Labor implemented the Gonski needs-based funding model under former prime minister Julia Gillard by striking deals with four states and the ACT.

Under this model every student receives a base amount of funding, with extra allocated for students with special needs or from disadvantaged backgrounds.

While the Coalition went to the last election promising a "unity ticket" with Labor on education funding, shortly after taking power it spectacularly broke this promise.

In 2014, the then education minister Christopher Pyne said he was scrapping the Gonski plan and would renegotiate deals with the states and territories.

The Government also moved to deregulate university fees, trying twice to get the legislation through Parliament.

When the new Education Minister Simon Birmingham took over in September 2015 full fee deregulation was put on hold, and abandoned altogether in May this year.

However about $2 billion in cuts to higher education remained on the books in the 2016 budget.

Gonski funding

* The Coalition will fund the first four years of Gonski and has committed another $1.2 billion from 2018 to 2020.

* The money will be tied to programs to improve student performance and results.

* Year 1 students will be tested for literacy and numeracy skills to identify students who need more help.

* Parents will be given annual reports that show students' results compared to national standards and there will be a minimum standard set for literacy and numeracy skills for Year 12 students.

* Labor has committed to fund the full six-year Gonski plan, including the final two years at a cost of $4.5 billion over 2018 and 2019.

* Labor's total package will cost $37 billion over a decade and includes a focus on more individual attention for students, better training for teachers, and more funding for students with disabilities.

* The Opposition says it will pay for the plan by targeting multi-national tax avoidance, increasing the excise on cigarettes, and cutting back on superannuation concessions for high-income earners.

* The Government is also focused on teacher training, renewing the national curriculum, and giving local communities more say over schools.

Higher education funding

* Labor has pledged to cap vocational education loans to students who attend private colleges. Loans will be capped at $8,000 per student, per year, which Labor says will save $6 billion over the next 10 years. The Government is undertaking a widespread review of the VET sector.

* The Government's previous policy to fully deregulate university fees has been dumped. Instead the Minister has released a discussion paper canvassing alternative options. The consultation will not be completed before the election, so the Government will not take a higher education policy to the election.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-13/election-2016-policy-big-issues/7387588

The issues are not in all in order of electoral importance there. One enveloping sense is
that Turnbull's Liberal coalition is pushing policies which your GOP would be sympathetic to.

And yes, your .. lol .. 'somewhat thinking' conclusion is spot on .. "school still works!"

This one would probably interest more Americans.

The religious lives of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten

Thursday 16 June 2016 11:55AM

Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull addressing the RSL. Image: Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull rarely speak of their religious upbringings. (ABC News)

Neither Malcolm Turnbull nor Bill Shorten speaks much about faith or religion—in contrast to Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott,
who led their parties to the 2013 election. Yet religion does inform the values of these two political leaders.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/religionandethicsreport/the-religious-lives-of-malcolm-turnbull-and-bill-shorten/7513000 .. grin ..

Guessing Turnbull's conservatives will get home in a closer than earlier anticipated election on Saturday. Labor has too
much ground to make up in one shot, Also though Shorten is a better issues man he not as electorally popular as Turnbull.