School takes a stand

School takes a stand

A private school which dared to speak out against the anti-discrimination loopholes which allow religious schools to fire gay and lesbian employees has been denied entry into the Association of Independent Schools NSW.

Macquarie Grammar, an independent school in the city, contacted the AIS to enquire about joining, but were told they would be denied before they had lodged a formal application.

In a letter explaining the decision, the AIS cited concern over comments made by Macquarie Grammar’s principal Dr Darryl Gauld in his 2008 annual school report. Gauld wrote that private schools accepting taxpayer funds should be subject to the same anti-discrimination laws as any other public school or institution.

“It is the view of this Association that the comments are not consistent with the ethos of this organisation and its membership and, indeed, would be offensive to many of our members,” AIS executive director Geoff Newcombe wrote.

A spokesman for the school said the issue of anti-discrimination and fairness in the workplace was a key concern for the school’s principal. Last year Gauld led a group of students in the Mardi Gras parade.

“I warned the principal but he said ‘No, I want to take a stand and I want Macquarie Grammar to be on the map as the school that stood up and said fair go. We can operate under the same laws as anybody else without any problems’,” the spokesman told Sydney Star Observer.

“He marched in the 1970s to support an anti-discrimination act, and it’s shocking to him that 30 years later it can still be possible for religious schools to claim exemptions from that Act.

“It’s fine for the AIS to take exception to what our principal said, but why take it out on our students and their families and our teachers? They’re the ones being denied the benefits of the staff development programs. We weren’t interested in the funding programs — we’ve never asked for a single dollar of public funding.”

The spokesman said parents were still supportive of the school’s strong stance on the laws, which have enabled schools to fire gay and lesbian staff members, stop gay and lesbian students from taking their same-sex partners to the formal and allowed religious schools to expel gay and lesbian students.

On its website, the AIS states one of its principles is the right of every independent school “to have their ethos and values reflected in the nature and character of the school”.

When asked to explain why this did not extend to having an independent school led by a man committed to the values of anti-discrimination, Newcombe declined to comment.

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16 responses to “School takes a stand”

  1. I spent my school years in a catholic school and I know for sure they are not short of cash. Sure, theyd like us to beleive they are. Teachers get paid more than enough! yet they just whinge to make us feel guilty. Its amazing how naive parents out there can be. I remember in my school from year 7 to 12 the time I attended there we were paying a building fund of $500 per year for a building which was never built. $500 was a lot of money in the mid 80s. Times that by the schools 300 or so students and there you have it! Greed!!!!!

  2. It’s surprising how keen some people are to make our school the issue, when the issue is that public money can be dished out in large amounts to institutions that are exempt in part from some laws that the rest of us must all follow.

    If readers have any questions (as opposed to just sledging) about the school’s stance, I would be happy for the Star Observer to provide my email address to enquirers for a personal Q&A session.

  3. I agree with Drew AND Oliver …MGS Teacher ‘open your eyes’

    Parents are expected to pay $18000.00 …then an additional $1500.00 (maybe plus another $1200.00) as stated on Macquarie Grammar website??
    So how has MGS marketed itself to get these poor parents paying premium price for this product …I mean education?

    No I really mean making a stand for equity. Dr Darryl is there a $250 application fee to ‘stand for equity’ as well?

  4. Drew! Couldnt agree more! Sending your child to a private/religious school doesnt buy your child “Class” I notice the difference in the real world as to who went to a state school and who went to a private school. Private school people end up with poor communication skills, arrogance and know alls! Asfor you MGS Teacher, ah yes! Spoken like a typical naive teacher. Just sweep it all under your rug. Schools are never not for profit as they claim, they are just greedy. MGS teacher, open your eyes.

  5. WHY WOULD ANY SANE INDIVIDUAL WASTE THEIR HARD EARNED $$$ TO SEND THEIR CHILD TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL….ITS BEYOND ME.

    AS WE ALL KNOW THE TOP SCHOOLS FOR THE HSC YEAR AFTER YEAR ARE “STATE SELECTIVE SCHOOLS”

    THREE CHEERS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION.

    PRIVATE SCHOOLS……A WASTE OF SPACE…..NEXT.

  6. Just wanted if I may to correct a few factual errors that have crept into some of the speculations from some commenters on this blog?

    We welcome local students, and our Open Day last month was well-attended by families from all across Sydney. And I’m pretty sure that our Indigenous student who finished high school with us last year was not from overseas!

    In addition, the school is not-for-profit. Our bursar could have cleared up that red herring in about five minutes if the AIS had only provided us with an application form. But they never gave us the chance.

    We wanted to join the AIS for the same reason as any independent school: they have excellent educational and staff development programs, as anybody who has worked in the independent sector would know. And there is plenty of members-only material that our students and teachers now cannot access, just because of what looks like a personal objection to the Principal’s comments.

    Furthermore, we are absolutely a “regular private school” – in that we are independent and chart our own course in consultation with families, the community and the Board of Studies.

    But if making a stand for equality, a fair go and supporting the Anti-Discrimination Act makes us “irregular” in the eyes of some, then we are proud to be as ‘irregular’ as they come!

    Thanks SSO for this opportunity to address the factual matters raised by your readers.

  7. Michael is 100 per cent correct. These odious exemptions go back 25 years and there is no sense of that changing.

  8. I appreciate the insider’s perspective offered by Steve, but unfortunately I disagree with his view that change is inevitable. It’s not – there is a really entrenched and strong opposition made by the private school lobby on this issue and they have succesfully pushed for beneficial reforms, not just in anti-discrimination law, but in other arrangements for private schools generally (such as funding). They have convinced the government – ALP and Coalition alike – that the issue is about parent’s ‘choice’ – when it fact, the issue is only about parent’s choice only if you can afford to have that choice.

    This is a really hard fight and it needs to be fought now, as approximately 30% of children in NSW go to non-government schools. They should have equal anti-discrimination protection. As should their teachers. We are not talking about a Minister at a school being forced to adjust their religious teachings, we are talking about the maths teacher, school receptionist or even school gardener employed by the school who may have no discrimination protection whatsoever.

  9. Yes, somewhat sensationalist… there’s always more to a story than what we’re provided in an article like this. Macquarie Grammar is a school/private college that takes only overseas students and is for-profit so it’s quite likely that there’s more to this than meets the eye. What I’d like to know is why would you even seek to join an organisation whose members are those that you rail against?

    As a teacher in the non-government sector I know that non-member schools can access the AIS teacher professional development programs, so that’s actually not an issue.

    Also, the anti-discrimination exemptions will eventually and inevitably be removed (when we have a state govt with the ability and the guts) once we’ve caught up those years that our society went backwards during Howard’s reign. It’s happened in Tasmania and they’re trying in other states (although legislation to do this was recently voted down in South Australia), so change is inevitable.

  10. This independent “association” and religious legal loopholes are just more reasons why non-government schools should NOT be receiving public funding.

  11. Nice bit of marketing for this Macquarie ‘Grammar’ to get on the front page of SSO?
    Besides being sensationally inclusive …it doesn’t appear to be a ‘regular’ private school?? Maybe THAT is the reason why the AIS didn’t include Macquarie Grammar?
    Anyway, as a gay man with children, I doubt I will be sending my children there.
    Sorry Dr Darryl …no three cheers from our family for this marketing devise.

  12. If the Association of Independent Schools picks and chooses the private schools it represents, then its name is a misnomer because it isn’t an association that represents the full spectrum of independent schools in Australia.

    What it is, then, is an association of people who wish to protect an apartheid system that keeps their children, businesses and workplaces segregated from law abiding groups in the community they hold personal objections to.

    As the majority of Australians, religious and non-religious alike, are happy to send their children to state schools where such segregation does not exist, I cannot think of a better example of a noisy minority seeking special treatment than the members of the AIS.

    I hope Macquarie Grammar will reach out to the other non-state schools that do not practice discrimination in their choice of students and employees and form their own association, so that their voices may be given an equal hearing by Government and the community in debates on these issues in future.

  13. It’s sad, but not too surprising that private schools allow homophobia to influence their employment practices. what’s really disgusting is that Labor, Liberals and Nationals all allow it to go on.

    The Greens put up a bill to remove private school exemptions from the anti-discrimination act a few years ago. It was supported by the Greens, the Democrats, and a couple of independents, but Labor and the Coalition voted it down.

    In their speeches, several politicians made it quite clear that they had no intention of forcing private schools to treat homosexual students and teachers equally. That’s the sort of government you get by voting Labor/Liberal/National.

  14. What idiots. So they want pink dollars but want to be able to use it against us to discriminate against us?

  15. The never-ending hypocrisy of the religious!

    Three cheers for Dr Darryl Gauld. Pity there aren’t a lot more principals and teachers like him.