An alarming number of teachers are leaving the education profession, but a new initiative could reverse this trend of teacher shortage.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has announced a new model which offers exemplary teachers in NSW higher-paid roles. Mitchell insists it would not be based on a ‘performance pay’ model.
“This is about expanding the career options for teachers and keeping our best in the classroom,” she told reporters this morning.
“NSW has some of the best teachers in the world, but they often leave the classroom and move into management roles to secure higher pay and career progression.”
Minister Mitchell said the plan may help halt the rate of educators leaving the classroom, while creating a clearer career path for them that also rewards excellence.
The new plans will be developed with consultations involving teachers, parents and other stakeholders ahead of any formal changes being implemented.
In NSW, a newly accredited teacher begins on a salary of $73,737, increasing to a maximum of $117,060 once they gain the “Highly Accomplished” or “Lead Teacher” accreditation — positions that typically take five to seven years to achieve.
An assistant principal role can generally receive a salary of around $126,528.
During the course of accomplishing each stage, teachers must undergo more than 100 hours of professional development per year, and meet other criteria.
In the past 12 months, public school teachers in the state have held three strikes, the latest occurring in June, when NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavielatos accused the NSW Government of refusing to negotiate with them.
“If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth, we won’t get the teachers we need,” Gavielatos said in a statement.
“That the Government is pursuing a new Award that seeks to impose a 2.04 per cent salary cap, with no change to the crippling working conditions experienced by the profession for a three-year period, is contemptuous.”
“The profession is now left with no alternative but to act in the interest of our students and our profession, and take industrial action. One of the most fundamental roles of a government is to ensure there is a qualified teacher in every classroom with the time and support to meet the needs of each child.”
Professor John Hattie from the University of Melbourne is advising the government on the proposed reforms that have been announced this morning by Minister Mitchell.
“The rewarding of excellence and expertise is the right topic to realise high standards and maximise positive impacts on students,” Professor Hattie told SBS News.
The nation’s education ministers are set to gather tomorrow for a formal roundtable to address the chronic workforce shortage.
Federal education minister Jason Clare said in a statement earlier this week: “We have a teacher shortage right across the country. Fewer young people are enrolling to become teachers and more and more teachers are thinking of leaving.”
“We need to fix this. That’s why I am getting ministers, principals, teachers and other education experts together to work on a plan to turn this around.”