Public schools operate on the goodwill of hard working teachers and education support staff. However, they are not properly resourced; many teachers report doing more than 12 hours of unpaid work each week.
Victoria has the lowest funded schools and the lowest paid teachers, which is why the Australian Education Union (AEU) has called a strike for March 24.
Education Support (ES) workers in Victoria do not even receive a paid lunch break, yet they are often asked to perform tasks, such as yard duty, which is the responsibility of teachers.
Rather than spending billions on the public-private North-East Link freeway amid a climate crisis, or contributing billions to private weapons’ companies which stand to profiteer from more wars and genocide, public funds must be prioritised to public schools for both the teachers and students.
The cost-of-living and housing crises means that teachers and ES workers were given a pay cut.
The AEU has called the strike because Labor has refused to take the teachers’ concerns seriously, offering a 17% pay rise over four years. The union is campaigning for a 35% pay rise for all school staff, over three years, so that wages keep up with inflation.
Teachers would receive an immediate 13% pay rise and Education Support workers a 16% pay rise if they were to cross the border and work in NSW.
Teachers and EA workers are exercising their right to take protected action starting with a stop work on March 24 and work bans.
Education is a fundamental right for everyone, yet governments have turned it into a privilege, with wealth being the main entry qualification.
At state and federal levels, the public education system has been systematically dismantled, while private schools continue to enjoy billions in taxpayer subsidies.
A rational and humane society education would be one of its top priorities. Government schools would be resourced and funded so that they were always parents’ and students’ first choice. Private schools would not receive any tax-payer funds.
Teachers and education support staff would be respected, and therefore well paid, and have the best working conditions.
After all, excellent working conditions produce first-rate learning environments.
The school buildings would be safe (free of asbestos or mould, for example), durable for heavy use and energy efficient, designed for teaching, learning and accessibility.
The Socialist Alliance supports the AEU strike for wages and conditions, and calls on the Victorian government to:
• Fund schools on a needs basis, determined by the school staff, not a government bureaucrat with a predetermined budget. School staff understand their students and their needs best.
• Immediately raise pay for all teachers and ES staff to march NSW and cost-of-living rises.
• Staff to be employed in permanent positions.
• Reduce class sizes and teaching hours for better learning and education.
• An inclusive curriculum that serves the needs of students, not big business.
Socialist Alliance members are supporting the fight for better conditions for all staff and students, and to restore public education at all levels. We support the creation of a universal, free, quality secular system open to all.
This would preclude taxpayer subsidies to private institutions.
[Mary Merkenich is a retired teacher and member of the Socialist Alliance, an ecosocialist party, fighting for a society where people and the planet come before profits, and we are standing in the Victorian election.]