An open letter to David Mehan MP, David Harris MP, Liesl Tesch MP and Yasmin Catley MP

Congratulations on being elected! Now you must try to fix the mess from the previous mob. Good luck! Reinstating a school for the Coast’s school refusers may not be high on your agenda, but you might like to know that five qualified teachers worked hard over five months on an application to do just that. Put back the school for the Coast’s most vulnerable teenagers. With Council support we found a great spot for the new school near The Entrance. PCYC were thrilled at the prospect of helping these kids. So what happened? The NSW Education and Standards Authority, NESA, found too many problems with the application, so we withdrew our application. So no school. Nothing for our school refusers.

Here’s why:

1. NESA wants school refusers to do the same curriculum as everyone else, even though many kids struggle with reading/writing. Our modified curriculum concentrated on improving the basics – reading and writing. NESA rejected this.

2. Helpful Council staff found great premises very likely to receive Council approval. NESA rejected them, saying others disapproved.

3. If we had pressed ahead ,NESA warned our application was likely to fail and falilng meant being banned for applying for five years. Banned for five years just for trying to help struggling teenagers on the Coast! So we withdrew our application.

4. It costs thousands to apply, covering insurance etc to put together these applications. The teachers stumped up the money. But we all have had enough. Time to throw in the towel.

5. While ever the NSW Education and Standards Authority continues to dominate curriculum and what suits school refusers, Central Coast kids will never receive the help they truly need.

Gab McIntosh (retired Principal) Education Spokesperson

For the five experienced teachers who tried to help

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