One industry set for $40k pay rise

Teachers in NSW could be eligible for a $40,000 payrise under a new government initiative.

The plan, criticised by the opposition, will give just 1 per cent of professionals a bump in pay.

200 teachers picked from 52 schools are included in the first round of increases this year before another 600 positions are awarded, should the government win another term.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the $152m funding boost would help retain teachers in the profession and keep them in the classroom.

Staff will apply for the role within their existing schools, with Ms Mitchell clarifying that what clarifies as an “excellent teacher” will vary from school-to-school.

The initiative comes as the teaching profession lost 10,198 staff in 2022, according to the NSW Education Standards Authority.

“Ultimately we’d like to see about 10 per cent of our workforce in these specialist roles in our school,” said Ms Mitchell.

“If your joy is being in the classroom with your children, we want to keep you there.”

The Opposition has accused the government’s slate of education policies and pay increase for teachers as being a pre-election cash splash.

Labor spokeswoman for education Prue Car said the scheme doesn’t directly address the state’s dropping education rankings.

According to international PISA rankings, NSW students had dropped from third place to 23rd for science, sixth to 23rd place for reading and ninth to 32nd for maths between 2006 to 2018.

“The government are talking about 50 schools today. 50 of the best schools, not 50 of the most challenged schools,” she said.

“We need to actually get to the bottom of the root cause of why education outcomes are in free fall: he chronic teacher shortage and the chronic underfunding of our public schools.”

Labor Leader Chris Minns said only a limited amount of teachers will benefit.

“They’ve got to get specific about how they’ll reward the 1 per cent of teachers they’ll give such a big bonus to because we need to make sure that the teaching profession is a vocation available to tens of thousands of people in this state,” he said.

On Monday, the Coalition also announced a $4000 incentive for teachers to pursue Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation, plus a $7000 bonus once they complete their training.

The bonuses would be paid in two $2000 payments after the completion of each model, with a goal to boost accreditation to 2500 by 2025.

There will also be a 40-school extension to NSW’s Ambassador Schools program, which currently boasts 10 schools including Auburn North Public School, Cabramatta High School, and Macarthur Girls High School. The new list will be confirmed by the end of 2023.

Principals at these schools have the autonomy to make their own hiring decisions, which NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet allows them “greater autonomy to pick the right teachers for their school”.

Ms Mitchell said Ambassador Schools was a way for all schools to learn the best and “share that practice across the system”.

“They are schools that are statistically outliers. They have something that’s making a really big difference in terms of their student outcomes,” she said.