Principals complain of bullying

SCHOOL principals have complained of bureaucratic bullying during the Victorian implementation of Julia Gillard's school stimulus program.

SCHOOL principals have complained of bureaucratic bullying during the Victorian implementation of Julia Gillard's school stimulus program.

The Australian Education Union's submission to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the Building the Education Revolution reveals that some principals are thrilled with the implementation, while others have become "disillusioned" and believe there is a "gap between the political rhetoric" and reality.

The Victorian branch of the union also called on the federal and state governments to fix the "causes of poor implementation performance" and that remediation should be offered to affected schools where it is feasible.

The submission, seen by The Australian, states that although the union is a supporter of the program, an AEU members survey showed there were problems with the implementation, and the government had made a "major error" by giving money to wealthy private schools.

"While some schools speak glowingly of their BER experience, others report less than satisfactory implementation experience," it says. "In these cases, issues such as difficult and unreliable timelines, bureaucratic heavy-handedness and inflexibility, unresponsive project management, lack of school input, questions about the fairness of funding allocations and the dual nature of the BER program . . . have played their part."

Some examples quoted by the submission include one rural school whose principal believed it was disadvantaged by government delays and templates.

"The only benefits being seen from the BER in our township is at the two Catholic schools, who are (understandably so) making the most of having autonomy over a significant amount of money to upgrade facilities and attract new enrolments," one principal wrote.

The submission says several schools have had success stories and that there had been a lot of "negative media comment", especially in The Australian.

AEU Victorian president Mary Bluett said principals were "overwhelmingly" happy with the BER program and most believed overall it would leave a good legacy.