Schools are not soapboxes

CLASSROOMS should not be used as political battlegrounds.

GENERATIONS of school students have been bored witless and occasionally fascinated by visiting politicians of all stripes. It is to be hoped their appearances have deepened students' understanding of parliamentary democracy. But School Education Minister Peter Garrett's lament that the Newman government has struck a blow to "democracy and free speech" by barring him from two state schools where he planned to discuss Labor's Gonski school funding plan is hollow.

Students, as Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said, are not political props. And schools are not the places for overt political campaigning, especially when the war over school funding will be a key election issue.

Regrettably, Mr Langbroek also strayed into the realms of campaigning last week when he visited a state school in Brisbane and during a lesson on the different levels of government was told by Year 6 and 7 students that the states were in charge of schools. That, he reportedly told them, was "a very important lesson for the Prime Minister".

While Mr Garrett claims to be "stunned" by Mr Langbroek's decision, it's a reminder that the students were correct. For the same reason, the West Australian government was also within its rights to object to a state school hall being booked for a Labor fundraiser.

The row between Mr Garrett and Mr Langbroek is the latest in a series of hostile exchanges over school funding after Julia Gillard told Campbell Newman "there will be no forgiveness for you turning your back on Queensland's kids" and Wayne Swan claimed the Premier "wants to play a wrecking role" in regard to school improvement. Mr Newman has said that an agreement before the Prime Minister's deadline of June 30 was highly unlikely because officials in her department and in Treasury were "intransigent", had failed to negotiate constructively and were unable to set out base education funding for 2014.

While the Gillard government says state schools would receive funding rises of between 19.4 per cent and 134.5 per cent per student over six years under the Gonski plan, the Newman government claims 160 state schools would be worse off.

With much of the extra funding delayed until 2018 and 2019, there are too many uncertainties for the deal to be rushed through.