Chief Minister Andrew Barr is spot on when he says there is no better investment we can make in the future of our city than to ensure our children can master the core skills and knowledge they need to be successful in life.
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Parents have a fairly basic expectation that when they send their child to school, they will learn how to read fluently, be able to express themselves in writing and be able to understand mathematical concepts to navigate their lives.
Unfortunately, too many children in Canberra have been falling through the cracks with no real systematic support for them to catch up to the minimum standards.
This announcement of funding for the Strong Foundations initiatives is certainly welcome news in that it is a commitment to creating a safety net that will catch students before they get so far behind that school - and life - becomes an insurmountable struggle.
It means that there will be less variation between classrooms and between schools because teachers will have access to the same, high-quality lesson planning materials and resources to teach literacy and numeracy.
But the allocation of just under $25 million over four years to achieve the lofty goal of having every classroom in every public school on board with evidence-based instruction is like trying to turn a ship around with a kayak paddle.
The ACT Alliance for Evidence-based Education and Equity Economics wrote in their pre-budget submission that it would cost more in the order of $92 million over four years to truly reform our education system.
While this budget announcement is light on detail - and more will be revealed when the full implementation report is released later this year - it does not mention funding for some key measures that would ensure the change-management process runs smoothly.
![Funding for literacy and numeracy measures fall short of what's needed to improve standards across all ACT public schools. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Funding for literacy and numeracy measures fall short of what's needed to improve standards across all ACT public schools. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/33pRA5ArzT57tWtt8VHHenS/868d20b5-1586-43c0-af32-724d0b52d5cf.jpg/r520_390_7306_4075_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
For instance, it does not speak of funding for a Year 1 numeracy check nor does it mention funding for coaches to deliver training to teachers in what will be for some a very different way of delivering the curriculum.
It is pleasing to hear of a commitment to multi-tiered systems of support, but questions around who would deliver the small-group and one-on-one intensive sessions amid a nation-wide teacher shortage are still up in the air.
At this point there is a high level of goodwill and buy in from parents and the teachers' union.
But this could easily be squandered if the implementation process is not properly funded.
If Andrew Barr is serious about investing in the future of our city, he will need to loosen the purse strings and pour more money into the education of our children.