Moreland council response to the HSC budget submission

HSC has received a strong and positive letter from Moreland Mayor, Cr Stella Kariofyllidis in response to our Victorian Budget Submission. She congratulates us on our work and notes that we make a "very strong case for the introduction of a year 7 intake at the Coburg Senior High School in 2012 " and asks that we advise council of the response we receive from State Government and keep council informed of our ongoing advocacy in relation to this important issue.

Letter from Moreland Council to Cate Hall - Re HSC Budget Submission

HSC thank Moreland Council for this positive response and note that, to date, the only response we have had from State Government about the budget submission is to say it has been passed on from Treasury to the Minister for Education Hon Bronwyn Pike MP. This is disappointing as we see this issue providing the perfect opportunity for an innovative Whole of Government approach - given that it impacts on Planning, Community, Education, Economy and Environment.

We also received some Moreland Council "front line" feedback. A person working the front desk at council said "High School for Coburg is the biggest issue around" 

Budget letdown for Coburg again

HSC submitted a detailed Victorian budget submission (which you can view here) calling for a Year 7 intake in 2012 and the local Member for Pascoe Vale, Christine Campbell MP has called for a Year 7 intake in 2011. Both calls have gone unheeded. That there has been no provision for an open entry secondary school for Coburg and surrounding communities in the State Budget comes as no surprise to High School for Coburg. (You can view the Treasury response to our budget submission here.)

“It’s disappointing of course,” said Cate Hall, “but we aren’t going away. This issue is just too important for local families and children to let it rest now.”

And there was plenty of education spending to go round. Labor committed hundreds of millions of dollars of state money to school buildings, all very welcome and appreciated but Coburg doesn’t even have a school. And that spending will be on top of the federal money expected to come next week.

“On top of the sham ‘taskforce’ that is being set up to look at this critical issue, it’s no surprise to find that Coburg has been neglected yet again,” said Hall. “This was the perfect opportunity for vision and an innovative whole of government approach to the issue of lack of secondary education provision for the greater Coburg community.”

DEECD spent over $4 million on the Shine media campaign, enough to fund around half an open entry high school. This begs the question – what is more important – education or telling everyone about it?