Plans to expand the Teach for Australia program are a waste of money and will do nothing to help disadvantaged schools, the AEU said today.

The High Court’s decision to declare the funding of the Abbott Government’s Schools Chaplaincy Program unconstitutional is an opportunity to redirect $245 million to areas of greater need, the AEU said today.

Tony Abbott’s decision to abandon needs-based Gonski funding for schools will lead to the loss of thousands of desperately needed teachers in disadvantaged schools, new research shows.

Schools are today being encouraged to acknowledge the importance of access to education for children across the world by marking the International Day of the African Child.

AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said today that Tony Abbott’s plan for corporate-run schools would increase inequity in the system, waste scarce resources and short-change students on the quality of their education.

The Federal Government will end the jobs of 583 secular welfare officers in schools as it uses its $245.3 million Chaplaincy program to push religion into public schools, Senate Estimates revealed last night.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott must confirm whether he is planning to abandon government schools after extraordinary claims by Education Minister Christopher Pyne that he doesn’t feel responsible for them.

The Abbott Government’s abandoning of Gonski funding will hurt public school students across Australia and entrench disadvantage in our school system, the AEU said today.