Teachers Federation meet in Bega to talk by-election candidate teaching and education policies

President of the NSW Teachers Federation Angelo Gavrielatos was in Bega on Monday, February 7, meeting with members to discuss candidate responses to questions posed about teachers and public school education.

Mr Gavrielatos said the by-election was an important opportunity to show the state government that a Liberal state government education policy, "had successively failed to reduce teacher vacancies", which were up to 40 in the Bega electorate.

He said that the government knows of those vacancies and that the cause was "uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads", but that rather than dealing with what was causing this, the government had "chosen to ignore it".

"Each teacher vacancy, you can multiply that by at least 20 to 30 kids that are impacted and in fact there could be a lot more in a high school setting," said Mr Gavrielatos.

He also said TAFE had been affected in this part of the state, including a decommissioned Bega campus and a concern about the future of Moruya.

"Over the last 10-11 years, 20 TAFE campuses have either been closed fully or in part across the state and the status of 17 is of great concern to us in the future."

"As you know the Federation never directs its members on how to vote or who to vote for, but we will certainly advise you who not to vote for and quite frankly we need to send a very clear message to the Perrottet government that their education policy is a big F- fail," he said

"Sending a clear message to them might send a clear message to think thrice about how they've been behaving in respect to teachers and our students and the funding of our schools and TAFE colleges," he said.

Mr Gavrielatos said he would be meeting with members in Queanbeyan on Tuesday to discuss the positions of Monaro candidates in relation to education and teachers.

The Federation sent out correspondence to its Bega electorate members outlining each of the responses it said it received from candidates on education policy.

The Federation received replies from the following four candidates and their respective party affiliations. The Federation provided the BDN with the below responses for publishing.

Liberal Party

Fiona Kotvojs said a maximum salary increase of 2.5% a year for teachers "seems fair". She doesn't support additional release time, instead backing the government's administration workload reduction plan which the Department of Education claims has saved teachers 10 hours a year so far.

Ms Kotvojs supports an urgent increase in school counsellors to reach a ratio of 1 to 500 students in Bega. Her position on school funding is in line with the government's, which the Federation says will see NSW public schools remain under-resourced and below the minimum Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) indefinitely.

Labor

Michael Holland opposes the government's 2.5% a year wages cap and says "a fully independent" Industrial Relations Commission should have greater powers to determine the salary levels of teachers. Mr Holland says the current workload of teaching staff "is a serious concern" as highlighted by the Gallop inquiry. Labor will produce an education plan prior to the election in March next year that will address teacher workloads.

Dr Holland supports additional school counsellors for local schools and a fairer funding agreement with the Commonwealth than the current one which the Federation says leaves all NSW public schools well below the minimum Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

The Greens

Peter Haggar opposes the 2.5% wages cap and instead supports the Gallop inquiry recommendations of pay rises of between 5 and 7.5% a year for teachers. "Respecting teachers means more than saying thank you, it means paying them properly and supporting them as professionals."

Mr Haggar also supports an additional two hours of release time for teachers and an urgent increase in counsellors to 1 to 500 students. He says the existing school funding agreement between NSW and the Commonwealth should be renegotiated to increase funding for public schools and ensure they reach 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party

Victor Hazir opposes the 2.5% wages cap. He says the salaries of teachers "should always be commensurate with the work" and an overhaul of salaries, allowances and working conditions is needed to help attract and retain teachers. Mr Hazir also supports an additional two hours of release time for teachers and an urgent increase in counsellors to reach 1 to 500 students, at a minimum.

He also supports a new Commonwealth/State agreement that would increase funding for public schools and ensure they were resourced at 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

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