Charisa Bossinakis
Teachers in New South Wales could soon earn up to $130,000 a year to prevent classroom exodus as shortages continue.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the state government is considering serious reforms to help entice a new generation of teachers, which includes addressing their salaries.
According to the outlet, teachers have a maximum salary of $117,600 (USD $83,237or £68,191), even if they are the best in their field.
But with the chronic shortage due to teachers searching for better roles and advancing in their careers, the NSW government has proposed an education shake-up that could see teachers receiving a significant pay rise.
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NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced the financial incentive plan, which she called ‘groundbreaking’.
“NSW has some of the best teachers in the world, but they often leave the classroom and move into management roles to secure higher pay and career progression,” Mitchell said.
“The structure of our teaching profession should reflect our teachers, by being innovative, ambitious and modern, keeping more of our best teachers in the classroom.”
Usually, for teachers to receive better pay, they frequently opt for more managerial positions, including principal and head office roles.
Ms Mitchell added: “This model is not ‘performance pay’, this is about expanding the career options for teachers and keeping our best in the classroom.”
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But NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos slammed the new proposal as ‘frustrating’, saying that they don't tackle long-term issues in the industry.
He told The Today Show: “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing today is another example of tinkering or playing at the edges rather than tackling the crisis at the heart of the issue.
“What we need – and governments know we need – is a competitive salary for the profession as a whole. We need to address unsustainable workloads for the profession as a whole in order to attract the teachers we need but, more importantly, retain the ones we’ve got.”
In June, thousands of teachers across the state gathered at Sydney’s CBD, partaking in a historic strike over pay and working conditions.
Public and private school teachers rallied after the NSW government revealed a three per cent pay increase in the state budget, according to ABC News.
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The NSW Teachers Federation panned the pay rise as ‘an insult’ and reported that there were almost 2,000 staff vacancies across the state, with more than half of those in regional towns.
Spokesperson for the union Stephen Kelly said at the time: "They're going to have to do a major reset of salaries to do that and unless they're going to address the workload issues, they're going to keep losing teachers as well.”