Teacher bonus opinion piece

I have visited a lot of schools around Australia and in each one I met dedicated and passionate teachers and principals who believe that education has the power to better the lives of their students.

The teachers and principals I have met often put the needs of their students ahead of their own, giving up their own free time outside of hours for school sports, camps and other activities that enhance learning and foster a sense of school community.

I view teaching as a vocation, and the contribution of teachers in schools to be as important in our society as doctors in hospitals. Excellence in teaching is worthy of both recognition and reward.

At the 2010 election the Coalition had a policy to pay outstanding teachers a reward payment for excellence. This policy had a number of beneficial effects in addition to the financial incentive for the teacher.

Firstly, many teachers reach their top salary band early in their career with the only options for advancement being moving from teaching students to an administrative role, or leaving the profession entirely.

A reward payment would be a motivating factor for teachers to stay longer in the classroom.

Secondly, young people considering teaching as a career will know their efforts will be rewarded. While the motivation for teaching generally isn’t a financial one, it doesn’t mean teachers don’t deserve similar incentives people might receive in the business sector when projects succeed.

The Gillard Government has also put forward a policy to pay teachers a bonus, but while the outcome will be similar to the Coalition’s policy, it is the delivery that is causing a lot of concern within the community.

Julia Gillard and Peter Garrett are not renowned for their ability to deliver programs on time and on budget. In the 2011 Budget there are examples of further cost blow-outs in computers in schools program and delays in the Trades Training Centre program.

The Government’s teacher bonus scheme will take three years before it begins in 2014, meaning a federal election will occur before any teacher sees a dollar in bonus funding.

Labor will develop a highly complicated process to assess teachers that will result in new criteria against which all teachers will be measured nationally. It is unclear at this point whether these assessment results will be published on the My School website.

This process as it stands currently will involve checks against 37 standards over four criteria totalling 148 different elements by which teachers will be assessed.

It seems the Government intends to somehow evaluate all teachers in Australia against this standard and then reward teachers with a bonus payment in three years time.

How this will be managed on a day to day basis remains a mystery. It may be that a departmental bureaucrat will arrive at the school gates with a clip-board and observe teachers in the classroom while ticking the 148 boxes of the assessment criteria.

It may be that NAPLAN results are used to evaluate performance.

However it works, the Government’s plan will be expensive, complicated and time consuming.

The Coalition’s plan is simple. In consultation with stakeholders we will appoint an independent board of trustees to administer the teacher reward fund and evaluate candidates for a bonus. Our plan will entirely bypass state education departments who should not be involved in both employing teachers and picking who will receive a bonus.

Principals in schools will be able to nominate candidates, and who better placed to know which teacher deserves one. This will help to further empower them within their school communities.

Preference in the Coalition’s plan will be given to teachers working in disadvantaged schools, those who work with a high proportion of students with a disability or in schools located in regional areas.

This program will be just the beginning of ways to further improve and enhance teaching as a career. Our plan to increase school autonomy would mean that teachers and principals would have more freedom within their schools to act independently and innovate.

I look forward to travelling around to more schools in the coming months and years, to hear what teachers think about this idea with a view to further improve it before the next election.