Teacher salaries must reflect importance of their work

The central importance of schools and teachers for the public good has been starkly revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly but not only for public schools, with their obligation to provide for all, no matter what their ability or background. Our teachers responded in multiple and creative ways to support the continuing learning of their students in very difficult circumstances. For their part, parents learnt a lot too about the realities of teaching today.

Simultaneously, the NSW Teachers Federation commissioned an independent panel of inquiry to examine all aspects of public school teaching and how it has changed, it being 17 years since the last comprehensive Industrial Relations Commission work value case. What is revealed is the dramatic increases in the volume, intensity and complexity of work generated by government decisions and heavily impacted by the social, economic and technological environment.

The public good that teachers provide was never more apparent than in the past year.

It is a finding of the panel that the interplay between the contextual variables and the myriad government expectations, policies and programs is of a scale and intensity that dwarfs the assessments found in earlier work cases in 1970, 1980/81, 1990/91 and 2003/04.

In relation to the challenges created by this mix, the panel noted that the funding, state and commonwealth, provided to public schools in NSW doesn’t get them to the 100 per cent of the schooling resources standard deemed necessary, now or in the future. That is not an encouraging start.

At the same time there has been a decline in the relative position of teachers’ salaries alongside that of other professions and a reduced attractiveness of public school teaching as a career. This is occurring at a time of increasing reliance on the public school system as the provider of education for all. The evidence before the inquiry clearly demonstrated the changes in public school student populations, deepening of child and adolescent mental health issues and distress, and the impacts of continuous technological change on teachers as well as students and their parents.

Evidence from submissions to the panel from teachers and others pointed to a range of factors besides salaries that needed attention. These include the effects of devolution through the Local Schools, Local Decisions (LSLD) policy, the management of all aspects of staffing, the impact of the management and allocation of teachers’ time, the provision and funding of support services, the introduction of new accountability measures, the collection, reporting and use of data, and the ways the teaching profession is engaged and policies implemented.

NSW needs a public education system that has a strong sense of purpose and strategic direction as a provider for all.Credit: Janie Barrett

A key finding of the Panel was that LSLD had failed and there is an urgent need for a major resetting of the relationship between the Department of Education and its schools when it comes to staffing matters, including promotion, and the provision of support services. Rather than a collection of quasi-independent schools, NSW needs a public education system that has a strong sense of purpose and strategic direction as a provider for all.

Other findings and recommendations in relation to the identified factors of importance include the following: provision of more dedicated time for teachers to plan lessons and collaborate with colleagues; providing a more measured and realistic timetable and approach to the NSW Curriculum Review and its implementation; initiatives to improve the administration of professional accreditation and to develop better career pathways attached to it; a redesign of NAPLAN on a random sample basis accompanied by a stronger teacher focus on student assessment; and a more substantial and genuine engagement of teachers and their school leaders in policy development and implementation.

The panel’s work required it to examine the significant changes in teachers’ work over the last 17 years. As well, the panel was concerned to consider recommendations that go to the supports necessary for the profession to confidently meet the new and emerging challenges of the future, one of which is the projection of significant enrolment increases.

This takes us to the all-important issues of attracting people to the profession, supporting and developing professional career paths, inducting new teachers into the profession, leadership development and teachers in the labour market.

It is important to note that the previous teacher wage cases saw increases that ranged between 9 per cent and 29 per cent for different classifications of teachers. The erosion of relativities with other professions was clearly demonstrated to the inquiry and when added to significant changes in work value and the impact of contextual factors on teaching, makes an overwhelming case for a substantial, overdue increase in teachers’ salaries. The current government-initiated effective one-year freeze followed by a 1.5 per cent cap on public sector salaries will not meet the challenges of teacher supply and retention facing public education in NSW.

The panel proposes that there be a phase-in of increased salaries of the order of 10 per cent to 15 per cent over the next two-year award (2022-2023) and then further similar increases in the following two years. Increases would vary across classifications, including existing and newly created leadership positions (as well as school counselling positions).

It is an important finding of the inquiry, endorsing similar views expressed by Geoff Masters in the context of the Curriculum Review, that a proper allocation of time and strategies for teacher engagement is essential for the successful implementation of policy and practice change. Research overwhelmingly endorses this view. So much policy change in the last decade has not observed this rubric. We propose a six-year timeframe for the implementation of the proposals we see as necessary to tackle the toxic mix of workload pressures and salary disparity that has led to serious teacher shortages.

Geoff Gallop is a former West Australian Labor premier who chaired the NSW Teachers Federation independent panel of inquiry.