The Guardian 13 February, 2008
NSW teachers:
staffing arrangement bad policy
The NSW Labor government knows its proposed new staffing arrangement is bad policy, the NSW Teachers’ Federation (NSWTF) said last week. The union pointed out that it actually appears that the government has made a deliberate decision to hurt country NSW and harder-to-staff metropolitan areas by giving school principals the right to choose teaching staff.
In March 2007 (the month of the state election) the then Minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt, addressed the NSWTF State Council.
Ms Tebbutt said the Staffing Agreement was one of her "proudest achievements as Minister for Education. ... The NSW Government takes responsibility for making sure that every school in NSW is staffed with experienced teachers and we will continue to do so. The Coalition will destroy the NSW Staffing Agreement."
She continued, "We know they tried in 1989 and their desire to do so has just got stronger with Howard’s industrial relations fixation. They believe in an unfettered market and the result will be chaos.
"Schools in favourable locations, in cities and along the coast, will take their pick of applicants. Schools in less favoured locations will be forced to accept what they can and in many cases they will not have sufficient staff. A deregulated workforce would change forever public education in NSW.
"We would no longer be a public education system but rather 2240 schools pitted against each other. That is not the vision for public education that a Labor government has."
It was not the vision for public education that the former minister had but it is now the vision this Minister for Education and Training and Industrial Relations, John Della Bosca, espouses.
On February 7, Mount Druitt teachers demonstrated outside the office of the local state Labor member, Richard Amery, about the state government’s proposed changes to staffing of schools. Fifty teachers turned up despite the appalling weather.
Mr Amery addressed the teachers and was presented a letter from the St Mary’s/Mt Druitt Teachers Association president detailing members’ opposition to the government’s proposed staffing changes. He was then briefed by a number of teachers of the potential effects on their school.
If the government’s proposals go ahead there is no doubt that Western Sydney will be one of the hardest hit areas. Federation congratulates Mount Druitt teachers for their action today.?