SA education union fires back at Labor's pledge to make it easier for principals to fire underperforming teachers

The state’s education union has fired back at Labor’s pre-election pledge to give principals more power to fire bad teachers, dubbing it “bad policy”. Do you agree?

The state’s education union has fired back at Labor’s pre-election pledge that would give principals the power to fire underperforming teachers, labelling it “populist politics”.

Branch President for the Australian Education Union (AEU), Lara Golding does not support Leader Peter Malinauskas’s proposal, which shortens the process of firing floundering teachers, overturning ALP policy and directly snubbing the union.

“This is populist politics, not good policy,” Ms Golding said.

“We all know that quality teaching matters and this means ensuring that every teacher has the professional development and support they need to be great.

Lara Golding is Australian Education Union SA Branch President. Picture: SUPPLIED

“It’s bad policy to wait until the pointy end of underperformance to take action.”

The Advertiser exclusively revealed Labor wanted to empower school principals to fire underperforming teachers, under a major pre-election plan designed to improve student learning.

Meanwhile, more than three quarters of people polled by the Advertiser have supported Labor’s plan.

Of more than 1100 people who responded to the poll (above) by 11.30am on Thursday, 77 per cent back the plan, while 23 per cent were against it.

Mr Malinauskas had vowed, if elected next March, to accelerate the process for dealing with floundering teachers from about 10 months to 10 weeks.

Public school principals would initiate a six-week intensive support program for underachieving teachers after which, if still unsuccessful, they would be removed from the classroom and open to dismissal within four weeks.

The two-page ALP Teaching Quality policy, detailed exclusively to The Advertiser, declares firing teachers is not needed often but occasionally must happen “in a way that is fair to the teacher and fair to the students”.

Labor also is promising to hand principals power to hire teachers and increase by 10 per cent the proportion of permanent teachers – latest Education Department figures show 81.1 per cent of 14,305 school teachers and leaders have permanent positions.

Kickstarting major policy releases less than five months from the March 19 election, Mr Malinauskas said most school teachers were outstanding and deserved strong support.

“Unfortunately, there are some poor-performing teachers and this has a disproportionately negative effect on our students,” he said.

“The current process for dealing with underperforming teachers is too slow – that is unfair on our kids but equally unfair on teachers themselves.

“When an underperforming teacher is left in the classroom for an entire year, that’s an entire year of children’s education we never get back.”

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas wants to give principals the power to fire underperforming teachers. (AAP/ Keryn Stevens)

But Ms Golding said teachers were employed by a system, not an individual principal, and it's the job of that system to take responsibility for delivering high quality teaching and learning.

“If Labor really cared about improving outcomes for kids, they would ensure that every child in every school has the support they need to be successful,” she said.

She welcomed Labor’s promise to increase the proportion of permanent teachers by 10 per cent.

Supplied Editorial Peter Mader, SA Secondary Principals' Association

But President of the SA Secondary Principals’ Association Peter Mader supported Labor’s proposal.

“We’re talking about a very small percentage of teachers in the workforce who would be engaged in a process like this, the vast majority of teachers are high performing, high quality and do a great job each and every day,” Mr Mader said.

He said principals were qualified to identify underperforming teachers.

“You don't wake up one day and say ‘I think teacher X is underperforming I'm going to start the process’, what happens prior to that, a range of evidence is collected to establish whether or not such a process should be commenced,” he said.

“Give them six weeks of intensive support, and if that doesn't turn around their performance, then we need to exit these people from the classrooms more quickly then we currently do.”

Earlier, Mr Malinauskas said he expected resistance from the AEU, also declaring his deputy leader and former education minister Susan Close’s 2017 opposition to handing principals firing rights had been reversed because she and Labor believed it was “the right thing to do”.

The Education Department would no longer impose teachers on schools – instead a selection process would give principals the opportunity to shape their team.

“I don’t expect the teachers’ union will be very happy about this (policy) but the teachers union also know that many of their members have this frustration – they only need to talk to them to know that,” he said.

“There are plenty of teachers out there who are stuck on contracts. Their own standard of living is compromised by rolling from one contract to the other when the very principal they work for would love to offer them a permanent position.”

Asked how a Labor government would juggle the potential inequities of firing teachers with making procedures so unwieldy that principals would not use them, Mr Malinauskas said the process for dealing with poor-performing teachers “maintains our commitment to procedural fairness”.

“If a teacher is dismissed for poor performance and they believe it is unfair, they will still have a recourse through the independent industrial relations system,” said Mr Malinauskas, a former shop assistants’ union state secretary.

“But poor-performing teachers aren’t entitled to hold other teachers back, hold school communities back, and certainly not hold students back.”

A Labor state government survey in 2017 found more than 80 per cent of public principals did not want ultimate power to fire teachers, which the then-education minister Dr Close said proved a Liberal push to hand stand-alone firing rights to principals was wrong.

The then-Liberal opposition claimed its position was being misrepresented.

The Liberal 2036 policy blueprint, released in March 2016, says decisions including staff recruitment and targeted use of school budgets are “best made by educators and administrators on the ground”.

A UniSA study released in June last year found public school principals believed the formal process to lift bad teachers’ performance was too difficult, time-consuming and biased in teachers’ favour.

The survey of 180 school leaders found a lack of confidence in the process meant some avoided it entirely, leaving underperforming staff in the system and generating one of the top four sources of principals’ tension.

Salisbury Park’s Aaron Timm backed Labor’s plan: “I just want the best for my kids and that includes having the best teachers. We are lucky to have had good experiences at our school but I have heard horror stories from friends, so I’d welcome anything that will get rid of dud teachers.”

Aaron Timm with his kids Lana, 6, and Lexi, 8. Picture: Keryn Stevens

More pay to keep educators in country

Labor is vowing to permanently extend cash incentives for teachers to work in the country to retain quality teachers in the regions for longer.

The Teaching Quality policy declares a Labor government would make a country salary loading ongoing for teachers in regional schools.

Country incentives, introduced in 1989, entitle teachers to an annual cash incentive during the first five years of ­service – between about $1000 and more than $9000 – with the amount varying between different regions, plus dependent on service length and whether employment is permanent or temporary.

Other incentives can ­include government employee housing concessions, removals expenses and a guaranteed return to Adelaide from the country after four to six years, dependent on zones.

Labor education spokesman Blair Boyer (inset) said the current temporary allowance contributed to an exodus of educators back to Adelaide.

“We have a plan for our country schools – making the country teachers’ allowance permanent to ensure regional schools keep teachers for longer,” he said.

The Labor policy says the current allowance is unfair for teachers wanting to stay in the country and drives more churn in the system.

“Making the allowance ­ongoing will contribute to the reform of the teacher placement process, which puts children at the centre of school decisions,” the policy says.

Balaklava year 12 high school students Tiarhn Carpenter, Amber Pratt, Caitlin Arts and Thomas Michael. Picture: Matt Turner

A seven-year, $15m Education Department strategy published on September 20 says targeted incentives to ­attract teachers, better digital infrastructure and more choice for students are key to improving country schools.

The strategy also includes student teachers in regional schools getting support, including travel and accommodation subsidies, along with replacement income if they have a part-time city job.

About 27 per cent of SA’s teachers are in the country.