What are the facts about the working conditions in Queensland schools?- Research and Freedom of Information application results.
How many Queensland State School students are being expelled each week?
July 2009-June 2010
The latest Queensland Department of Education and Training figures show that a total of 60,200 suspensions of up to 20 days were issued in the state during this period.
Some students were suspended on multiple occasions.
More than 900 students' behaviour was so serious they were expelled from their school, usually permanently.
Five hundred and twenty-nine Year 11 and 12 students were not allowed to continue after displaying a 'persistent refusal to participate in the program'.
June 2008-June 2009
An average of 21 Queensland state school students were expelled from school each week in the twelve months to June 2009.
The suspended students had physically attacked teachers or classmates, damaged property, disrupted classes or were caught swearing or with drugs, cigarettes or alcohol.
Students were also suspended 57,188 times for between one and 10 days.
An average of 278 students were suspended each school day.
You're out : state school suspensions soar, Courtney Trenwith, The Brisbane Times, 29 June 2010
Almost 280 suspended a day in Queensland schools, Rosemary Odgers, The Courier-Mail : 14 November, 2009
How many Queensland teachers have been placed 'on suspension' in June 2010?
14 Education Queensland teachers were suspended on full pay in June 2010.
10 teachers had been suspended for Code of Conduct issues.
1 teacher had been suspended for a court matter.
3 teachers had been suspended because they were involved in ongoing police investigations.
Teacher clears name, David Murray, p.30, The Sunday Mail, 20 June 2010.
How many Queensland classroom teachers have sued the Education Department in the past five years because of workplace bullying?
The Queensland Government will not reveal how many staff successfully sued Education Queensland in the past five years, the associated legal costs or the current number of lawsuits.
School bullying in Queensland costly for taxpayers, Alison Sandy, The Courier-Mail, 21 May 2010.
How many crimes did Queensland school students commit at Queensland schools during the last six months of 2009?
During the last six months of 2009, Queensland police investigated -
* 300 assaults allegedly committed by children at Queensland schools.
* 45 s-x offences, 11 allegedly committed by children at Queensland primary schools.
* two attempted rapes allegedly committed by children at Queensland schools.
* 176 assaults were allegedly committed by under-16's in Queensland high schools.
* 35 assaults were allegedly committed in Queensland primary schools.
* 85 assaults were allegedly committed in "other education facilities".
During the full year July 2008 - July 2009 -
* 504 assaults were allegedly committed by children in Queensland schools.
* 78 s-x offences were allegedly committed by children at Queensland schools.
* 17 assaults were allegedly committed by adults at primary schools.
Queensland Police say that some of these offenders may not be students at the schools where the crimes were committed.
And that the number of offences at education locations in Queensland is relatively small when compared to the general community.
Epidemic of crime grips our schools, Daniel Knowles, page 3, The Sunday Mail, 14 March 2010.
How many incidents involving knives are there each week in Queensland schools?
Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson advises that on average there is one incident each week in a Queensland school that involves a knife.
Queensland Police responded to 46 knife offences in Queensland educational facilities (schools and universities) during July 2008 - June 2009.
This figure of 46 does not include people who simply possessed a knife. The 46 people offended with a knife.
This figure represents a 35 per cent increase on the previous year.
34 people offended with a knife in Queensland educational facilities during July 2007 - June 2008.
Schoolgirl row "escalates into knife threat", AAP, The Courier-Mail : 25 February 2010.
Education related knife offences rise 35 per cent, Andrew Dawson, The Chronicle : 18 February 2010.
How many Queensland state school students are using weapons at school?
An average of 89 students were suspended for violence with weapons or "objects" every week in Queensland state schools during July 2008 - June 2009.
This seems to be an increasing problem in Queensland state schools because -
An average of 65 students were suspended for violence with weapons or "objects" every week in Queensland state schools during July 2003- June 2004.
More than 10,000 Queensland state school students were suspended for "physical misconduct involving an object" during July 2006-June 2009.
Weapons suspensions on rise at schools, Tanya Chilcott and Rosemary Odgers, The Courier-Mail : 24 February 2010.
How many Queensland school students had their enrollments cancelled during 2009?
During 2009 it was recommended that -
* 383 Queensland students have their enrollments cancelled.
These students were over 16 years old.
* 864 Queensland students be excluded.
Five of the 864 excluded Queensland students were in Year 1.
More than half of the 864 excluded Queensland students were in Years 9 and 10.
Which seems to suggest that Year 9 and 10 classes in Queensland schools are being very regularly disrupted.
And that this level of disruption must impact on the education of the better behaved students.
School principals win right to expel problem students, Alison Sandy and Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 18 December 2009.
How many Queensland teachers have been "suspended on full pay" during the past two years?
* 95 Education Queensland staff were suspended on full pay for some period between 1 january 2008 and 31 January 2010.
* By 31 January 2010, 20 Education Queensland employees remained "suspended on full pay".
* It costs Queensland taxpayers more than $1m a year to keep these Queensland classroom teachers, principals and education officials "suspended on full pay" while waiting for the outcomes of "investigations" into allegations concerning them.
Many of these Queensland teachers may be the innocent victims of "joke", malicious or "payback" allegations concerning them.
The long "investigation" process - and the eventual "return to work" process - is very, very stressful for these Queensland teachers.
The stress of the "investigation process" itself seems to make teachers ill.
The "investigations" can sometimes take more - much, much more - than two years.
School staff suspended on full pay cost taxpayers over $1m a year, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 12 March 2010.
How many Queensland teachers made formal complaints about workplace bullying in 2009?
* In 2007, 26 Queensland teachers made formal complaints about the bullying and aggressive behaviour of other teachers (I would presume that these "other teachers" are actually Queensland school principals).
* In 2008, 30 teachers made formal complaints.
* In 2009, 37 teachers made formal complaints ( to November ).
This represents an increase in complaints of more than 40 per cent over the past two years.
Teachers bullied to keep quiet on problem schools, AAP, 30 November, 2009
