Teachers' Pay

The NSW Teachers Federation is pushing for a pay increase of more than 5 per cent after a pace-setting Victorian deal.

A graduate teacher in Victoria can now expect to earn $51,184 a year, compared with $50,522 in NSW.
 
But Victoria may not hold its newly won top spot on the teachers' pay league ladder for long.
 
As well as the NSW push, teacher unions in other states plan to increase pay claims to match the new Victorian enterprise agreement.

Victorian Education Minister Bronwyn Pike points to productivity improvements because teachers will trade off some student-free time during school terms.
 
But the across-the-board enterprise agreement may be the last of its kind, at least as the sole determinant of teachers' pay.

Last year, the states rejected a Howard government proposal to link teachers' pay to students' performance in national tests, arguing that this disadvantaged teachers of recently arrived migrants and children with difficulties.

The Rudd Government announced last month it would initiate joint research with the states into more soundly based methods of rewarding quality teaching across the country.

Already, independent schools in NSW reward teachers under an evaluation system developed by the NSW Institute of Teachers that considers classroom performance and lesson preparation.

The Australian Secondary Principals Association is considering proposals including digitally recording some classes to view teachers' in action.
 
Other possible elements of a performance-based pay model are peer review and feedback from students and parents.

Critics caution that individual performance should not be rewarded in a way that undermines the teamwork needed to run a school well. 
 

Published: 14 May 2008