The NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) launched the Putting Students First Charter on June 19. The charter is a response to the state Coalition government’s plans to radically restructure the education system and cutback teaching an allied support positions.
Teachers called on the government to guarantee it would preserve quality education. The NSWTF warned that if the government refused to give such guarantees, it would ask members to stop work on June 27 to attend protest meetings and rallies.
The charter says: “The NSW government guarantees that for the life of our first term of government, when making any changes to the NSW education system, we will always put students first. In particular we guarantee:
• Class sizes will not be increased
• Funds for public education will not be reduced in real terms
• There will be no overall decrease in the level of permanent teaching positions
• There will be no overall decrease in the level of school executive staffing
• The current harmonious award system will be maintained
• There will be no decrease in the level of specialist teaching positions in our schools
• School executive structures will continue to be determined by curriculum need and the number of students at each school
• Key decisions at the school level will be made cooperatively by principals, teachers and parents.”
Teachers are angry that the state education department refused to consult with staff before it announced the restructure, which is part of its Local School, Local Decisions plan.
About 200 teaching positions will be lost under the changes. These include 125 teachers and 75 administrative positions.
The NSWTF said on June 19 that the changes “amount to the most severe and significant loss of teaching and allied support positions from Head Office in the history of public education. The cuts are deep and go to almost every aspect of support for schools and their students.”
The changes include abolishing the department’s curriculum directorate, cutting back positions that support new teachers, closing the Drug Prevention Unit, ending the regional New Arrivals English as a Second Language program and closing the Equity Programs Directorate, which dealt with funding and support for disadvantaged schools.
NSWTF president Maurie Mulheron said on June 19: “With this charter the profession calls on the state government to guarantee that all educational change will be centred on the educational needs of students. This charter is put forward as a means of resolving the dispute between the profession and the government.
“A state-wide advertising campaign in support of the charter will start tomorrow in regional and metropolitan newspapers. This is in addition to the existing radio, television and print advertising campaign …
“It is clear that rather than putting students first, the government intends to reduce its investment in public education by cutting programs and by reducing the number of permanent teaching and support staff positions.”
