Parents may cover teachers during strike

A leading parents' group has slammed the federal government's plan to use parents as
strike breakers if teachers carry out a threat to boycott national exams.
In a potentially embarrassing development for the government, the NSW Federation of
Parents and Citizens Associations (NSW P&C) on Sunday said it was outraged by the
plan.
The criticism came after Education Minister Julia Gillard confirmed the government
was considering asking parents to step in if teachers refused to supervise next
month's National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.
The Australian Education Union (AEU) will meet on Monday to decide whether to
boycott the tests in protest at the government's plans to publish the results on its
My School website.
Ms Gillard said the government was considering a range of options to ensure the
tests take place, including asking parents to step in if teachers go ahead with the
boycott.
"I'm asking parents, if we need them, to consider working with us to make sure that
the tests continue to run out this year," Ms Gillard told ABC Television on Sunday.
Ms Gillard said it was not too late for the AEU to change its mind and to not
proceed with a boycott.
"The AEU is meeting tomorrow and my words to them are very direct and very clear:
banning the tests would be bad for students, bad for the kids, bad for parents and
bad for transparency."
But the NSW P&C said it was outraged by the suggestion parents could be recruited to
supervise the tests.
The federation's president, Di Giblin, said that despite Ms Gillard's assurances to
the contrary, an open dialogue between the government and teachers was virtually
non-existent.
"It is not the role of parents to supervise the implementation of such testing. This
lies in the hands of government who have the responsibility of the education of our
children," Ms Giblin said.
"Such action can only lead to the driving of a wedge between the key partners in a
child's formal educational experience, the parent and the teacher."
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the government's was a desperate move.
"It seems to me that the deputy prime minister has completely lost control of her
portfolio if she's talking about tests not being administered by professional
people," he said.
Ms Gillard earlier indicated she believed parents were on the government's side in
the debate over NAPLAN testing.
"Parents have literally voted with their fingertips in extraordinary numbers because
they want this information," Ms Gillard said.
There have been about 2.7 million visits to the website since its launch in January.