Teachers’ union is a slow learner

While billions of dollars in extra funding has been poured into schools over the past 20 years, declining student results, including in basic NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) testing for years 3, 5, 7 and 9, show that extra money alone is not the answer to improving standards. That is why the Australian Education Union, the main union representing state school teachers, will make a bad situation worse by imposing work bans on teaching reforms designed to help children learn better.

Education Minister Jason Clare has tied the reforms to an extra $16bn in bonus funding for state schools over the next decade under the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. The reforms include tried and tested methods to improve classroom standards. These include teaching reading by phonics (sounding out words), greater use of direct instruction, and tackling truancy and dropout rates. Parents and taxpayers are entitled to expect no less. But so far only Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have signed up to the deal. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT have missed the federal government’s deadline, demanding the extra money be doubled.

The teachers’ union’s attitude is in line with long-term union resistance to reform. For years, education unions resisted greater accountability and transparent reporting to parents, including NAPLAN.

Earlier this year, the AEU’s Victorian branch tried to boycott phonics-based instruction when it was mandated by Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll. That row led to a revolt against the union from some classroom teachers, education editor Natasha Bita wrote in Thursday’s paper. Those who disagree with the AEU’s approach should not hesitate to join a different union or professional association.

A rival teaching union – the Teachers’ Professional Association of Australia – has accused the AEU of “putting the needs of ­students last”. After years of classroom wars in which research has consistently confirmed the effectiveness of methods such as phonics, it is depressing for stakeholders that teacher resistance to evidenced-based methods is still an issue.