Since the announcement that the Government would rationalise the number of schools in Canberra, Mary Porter has been working with the communities in her electorate that may be affected to ensure the best possible social and educational outcomes for all children whose parents choose to have them educated in the public system.
"Doing nothing is not an option" Mary said, "we have been loosing 1% of students from the public sector for over a decade and if that trend continues there will be more students in the private sector than the public by 2010."
"All my children attended public schools as do my grandchildren and I am not prepared to see Government schools become a second rate safety net system."
"Rather than rail against the Government I have chosen to work with the Minister and the school communities to achieve the best possible results" Mary said. "In the 30 years that I have been working in the community in this town I have always found that the best results are achieved by people coming together and working to achieve a common goal and that is the way I will continue to work."
"This is not designed to save the Government money, we will be spending $90 million over the next four years on infrastructure upgrades and an additional $20 million on IT that will enhance the students learning."
"We have a real opportunity during the consultation process to investigate some innovative options and I am totally committed to playing my part in arresting the decline in public education and helping to again make it the preferred choice for the parents of our young people" Mary said
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