An open letter calling on all Australian education ministers to release a secret report into AERO is gaining momentum. The report, which investigated the effectiveness of the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), was sent to ministers earlier this year.

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AERO's work impacts every student, every teacher - and even parents - in every school across the country. We should know if it works.

I was prompted to write this open letter when I learned that the University of Melbourne's Alex Bacalja submitted a freedom-of-information (FOI) request for the report earlier this year. It was denied.

AERO, a taxpayer-funded organisation that publicly declares to "welcome scrutiny to enhance the integrity" of their work, objected to the release of the report on the basis that it might undermine public confidence in the organisation and impinge on AERO's relationships with partner organisations.

The logic doesn't hold up and I became concerned that the voices of those who made contributions to the review were effectively being silenced through the refusal to release the findings of the report.

I wanted to provide an avenue for those who contributed to the KPMG review to have their voices respected and heard, and to also allow space for those most influenced by AERO's work-school leaders, teachers and school communities-to express their concern regarding the lack of transparency.

In the media, references to the withheld report have only been made in passing. That seems to downplay the issue as somewhat conspiratorial. This open letter intentionally engages with the concerning lack of accountability of an organisation that has had significant influence in directing educational policy across Australia over the past five years.

About transparency, not pedagogy

Let me make one thing clear.........

© Canberra Times