<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Greens announce $1bn teacher plan in education policy
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<cite class="">Sarah Blake </cite>
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News Limited Network
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<span class="">September 02, 2013</span>
<span class="">1:00AM</span>
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<span class="">"Australian teachers and principals are under huge amounts of pressure." - Senator Christine Milne.</span>
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ALMOST a third of public schools would have an extra teacher under the Greens education policy, to be announced today
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<p>There would also be expanded music and Asian language offerings in the curriculum, along with science and maths.</p><p>Greens leader Christine Milne will make a $1 billion pledge to add more than 2200 new teachers to disadvantaged public schools.</p>
<p>It
follows a Greens-led Senate inquiry in June that found concerns about
Naplan testing were diverting focus from the curriculum and placing
unnecessary stress on teachers and students.</p><p>"Australian teachers
and principals are under huge amounts of pressure and feel extra
administrative burdens are pulling them away from time with students in
the classroom," Senator Milne said.</p><p>"An extra teacher in
disadvantaged schools would mean more time for lesson planning and more
time for engaging with students, parents and the community or smaller
class sizes."</p>
<p>The Greens would also create $100 million in well-being grants to
increase mental health and social workers in schools, and commit $20
million to professional development for teachers.</p><p>There would be
$10 million towards an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language
component in the national curriculum and $60 million to increasing the
take up of Asian languages.</p><p>This policy direction is reflected by
both the Coalition and Labor plans to build on the approximate 5 per
cent of students who learn Asian languages in Year 12.</p><p>A further
$20 million would go to expanding music lessons and $10 million towards
buying new musical instruments for public schools.</p><p>There is $1
billion in new spending in today's announcement and the Greens have
previously committed $2 billion on top of current government expenditure
over the next three years.</p><p>"Improving our public education system
is one of the best investments our nation can make," says Greens
education spokesperson Penny Wright.</p><p>"The Australian Greens will invest a total of $3 billion in the next three years to make this a reality."</p><p>Senator Milne will also call on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to reveal Coalition costings earlier than the end of this week.</p>
<p>"We
have no idea how vicious and deep Tony Abbott's cuts will be.
Regardless of what happens on September 7 the Greens will stand up for
our teachers and disadvantaged students in the Senate," she says.</p></div><div style="overflow:hidden;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:left;text-decoration:none;border:medium none"><br>
Read more: <a style="color:rgb(0,51,153)" href="http://www.news.com.au/national-news/federal-election/greens-announce-1bn-teacher-plan-in-education-policy/story-fnho52ip-1226708533674#ixzz2dkEJsGn7">http://www.news.com.au/national-news/federal-election/greens-announce-1bn-teacher-plan-in-education-policy/story-fnho52ip-1226708533674#ixzz2dkEJsGn7</a><br>
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