Media Release
A vital part of stopping the scourge of composite classes has now been put in place, with the NSW Government signing an agreement to make local public-school teachers the best paid in Australia.
Member for Monaro, Steve Whan, said he was “delighted by agreement being reached.
“In term four this year, our local public-school teachers will get their biggest wage increase in a generation. It is appropriate recompense for a vital and busy job, and it is well earned.
“Up until now our local teachers have been overworked and paid well under the rates available across the border in the ACT.
“As a result, many have left.
“Over the 12 long years the Nationals represented Monaro, the number of vacant teaching positions increased by a massive 418%.
“If there is one thing that highlighted the difference between me, and the former Nationals Member, at the last election it was the issue of teacher shortages.
“The Nationals, then and now, had their head in the sand.
“They refused to recognise the disastrous impacts on children’s education of teacher shortages.
“Over and over again, I was hearing from parents and teachers about students spending hours in the playground or in composite classes – instead of learning with their teacher.
“Yet, the Nationals refused to even acknowledge this problem. Even yesterday in the Parliament a senior Coalition member claimed the teacher shortage crisis was a ‘fairytale’.
“In a debate I participated in yesterday in the Parliament coalition members got up one after the other and vehemently criticised the pay increase for teachers. At a local level the Nationals upper house MP, Bronnie Taylor, telling local radio that teachers should have had to ‘do a bit more’ to get a wage increase.
“As I told the Parliament last night, teachers are already overworked. No teacher knocks off at 3:30 – most spend their evenings and weekends doing administrative work. The fact the Nationals don’t know that just shows how out of touch they are.
“Local teachers and local parents should be very clear that the Nationals have absolutely no interest in the quality of their student’s education. They avoided this issue in Government and now they are obsessed with base politics.
“I told locals when I ran for Monaro that my focus was on the longer-term issues, like retaining teachers in our schools. I’m very proud that after five months in office we have taken one big step toward that.
“I want to thank our local teachers for talking to me and meeting with me over the last few months to let me know the challenges they are facing, but most of all I want to thank them for educating our children.”
Wednesday 13 September 2023
