Page 3113 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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and inspiring learning environment” and that we achieve “outcomes at the highest level” then we need teaching staff that not only feel valued but are actually rewarded as such. Being the lowest paid teachers and facing the government response that there is simply not enough money, for now the third enterprise agreement, is not good enough.
I am confident that Minister Barr can match his policy aspirations with the remuneration of territory teachers. It is clear that deputy principals’ wages are way behind those of their interstate colleagues. If accepted, the government’s offer would see deputy principals’ pay rise by 16.2 per cent after three years. Currently, deputy principals in the ACT are 16.1 per cent behind deputy principals in New South Wales, so the government pay offer is only playing catch-up and not for three years.
I believe we have a good number of talented educators, teachers and skilled public servants that can establish a framework that will make a real attempt to raise the salaries of ACT teachers, rewarding them for the vital role they play.
The Greens believe that public education is a cornerstone of society and it must be well resourced. We support parents exercising choice and understand that there has been a shift across the ACT towards non-government schools, especially in the high school years, while primary school enrolments remain consistent; and there is also movement back to the public sector in the college years. High schools are in need of support, and I am glad that the minister has a plan for improving and advancing ACT high schools. The framework for improving secondary schooling plans to respond to the needs of various students, be they gifted and talented, students wanting to access vocational education programs or students who need particular support with behavioural issues and those at risk of disengaging from education.
Criticisms have been raised that our achievement gap will in fact widen with this approach and that these initiatives are simply being undertaken to attract talented students and higher income families back into public education.
The achievement gap is of vital concern to the ACT Greens. We note that according to the latest program for international student achievement report on international test results for 15-year-olds, the achievement gap between rich and poor in Canberra is the largest of any state or territory in Australia. ACT school students from low income families in the ACT are doing worse than those in most other states. Average results find low SES students in the ACT are about six months or more of schooling behind low SES students in all other states except Tasmania, and the Northern Territory. The PISA report specifically said:
… low socioeconomic students in the Australian Capital Territory are not particularly well served by their education system, with average scores for these students only just above those for Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and between 19 and 24 score points lower than students of the same socioeconomic level in the other five states.
While it is easy to develop plans for addressing disadvantage, it is much harder to successfully implement them. It is important that initiatives designed to address disadvantage take a holistic view and have the fortitude to drill below the surface and
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