By Lucy Carroll and Nigel Gladstone
The number of public school leaders sacked for misconduct has risen to a decade-high, as new data reveals 20 principals and deputy heads were dismissed in 2023.
A NSW Education Department misconduct and performance report shows school leaders were dismissed for proven allegations of fraud, misuse of public resources or breaching the code of conduct. One permanent principal was sacked for poor performance.
Just 49 teachers were dismissed for performance concerns that year, out of a public school teaching workforce of 92,000. There were 25 teachers dismissed for sexual misconduct.
New data shows 49 public school teachers were dismissed for performance concerns in 2023.Credit: iStock
The data comes five years after a damning auditor-general report found major flaws in the way public school teachers are monitored across the state’s 2200 public schools.
Other reasons for school leader dismissal, which includes principals, deputies and assistant heads, included failure to manage conflicts of interest and duty of care. One principal was sacked for sexual misconduct with a student.
Last month, the principal at Sir Joseph Banks High School and his brother-in-law were charged with 60 fraud and corruption offences after police alleged they embezzled $1.4 million of public funds for school building works.
Rabieh Gharibeh and building company director Ahmed Charchouh were arrested after raids at properties in western Sydney where police seized cash, a ballistics vest and luxury watches. The matter is before the courts. Gharibeh is currently suspended from the department without pay.
In September 2023, a former school principal was sacked by the department for a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.
Data from December shows 268 teachers, 52 school executives and 59 principals are under investigation by the department’s Professional Ethical Standards unit for allegations of misconduct. Those figures are stable compared with the previous year.
The department’s latest misconduct report, released on Tuesday, shows 1254 teachers were dismissed from the department for misconduct or poor performance over the past 16 years.
Just over 100 teachers and principals were placed in an improvement program in 2023, while only 49 teachers were dismissed for poor performance, about 0.05 per cent of the workforce.
An auditor-general report previously found the department does not effectively monitor teaching across the state school system, noting principals assessed their staff and teachers could choose who observed them.
A pay deal struck with the teachers’ union last year has since removed the department’s unilateral power to change teacher performance monitoring.
“The vast majority of our teachers and principals are excellent employees who are committed to the improvement of educational outcomes for the students in our care,” a NSW Education Department spokesperson said.
“We do not hesitate to take action against employees in the event of misconduct to protect children and the integrity of our schools.”
NSW Primary Principals Association president Michael Burgess said principals play an important role in their communities, although it is “complex, and becoming more challenging with increased complexity with students, parents and policy demands. Principals need the support and resources to do their job properly.”
Fifteen teachers were convicted of serious criminal offences in 2023. An overall 128 school staff were dismissed that year, more than double a decade ago.
The secretive investigations unit
The new misconduct data comes after the department commissioned former deputy NSW ombudsman Chris Wheeler to audit the department’s Professional Ethical Standards unit.
The secretive unit, which investigates misconduct complaints against public school staff, received 4200 reports of alleged misconduct last year, up from about 3600 five years ago.
Wheeler’s report said that representatives of the union and principals associations and four former school leaders interviewed for the review “commonly perceived a lack of proportionality on the part of PES and a focus … on punishment rather than support”.
“When describing how they thought principals would describe the culture of the department, a majority referred to ‘punitive’ or ‘punishment’. Some also referred to ‘fear’, ‘toxic’.”
The review did not find any indication PES was punitive or engaged in punishment, a department spokesperson said.
“PES delivers a vital job keeping the students of NSW safe,” the spokesperson said, adding the internal audit and found PES performs difficult tasks effectively.
The internal audit report, obtained by the Herald, showed each investigator had an average of about 15 cases last year, over the maximum 10 recommended in a review of the unit by former Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi in 2019. That review found the unit was seriously understaffed and took too long to close cases.
“Numbers will increase as schools reopen … the average number of caseloads can be expected to return to the pre-Tedeschi level of 20,” the report dated March 2024 said.
The NSW Education Department commissioned a an internal review of the Professional and Ethical Standards unit in 2023.Credit: Cathryn Tremain
There are 54 permanent active investigators in PES, while five positions “that were deleted” two years ago have been reinstated.
The report noted “significant delays” with investigations, with 51 matters over two years old, most involving criminal investigations.
It also recommended that for PES to “be in position to strongly argue that decisions to dismiss were justified in the circumstances”, it should adopt a practice of referring the matters for an independent review.
The NSW Education Department publishes annual figures on teachers dismissed for misconduct or poor performance. Private schools do not make this information public.
The Wheeler audit report, provided to NSW Greens MP and education spokesperson Tamara Smith, found some teachers placed in alternative duties while under investigation felt shunned or ostracised by other staff.
“What we hear from schools is that there is a culture of ‘managing’ poor performing teachers and principals out of the system. Many simply leave because of delays and loss of reputation,” Smith said.
NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Denise Lofts said: “Anecdotally there has been an increase in principals needing our support for vexatious complaints, staff complexities and alleged breach of financial procedures. It seems to be that mistakes are dealt with harshly, and the consequences are long-reaching. Principals need more support taking on leadership roles.”
The department said the main responsibility of PES is to ensure the care and protection of children. “It undertakes this task bound by privacy legislation to protect the confidentiality of employees and victims.”
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