BY JOHN GAUCI
SYDNEY — In a race to beat its union-bashing Murdoch rival, the Daily Telegraph, the Sydney Morning Herald has served up yet another editorial filled with half-truths and distortions directed at the state's teachers. An April 19
BY JOHN GAUCI
SYDNEY — In a race to beat its union-bashing Murdoch rival, the Daily Telegraph, the Sydney Morning Herald has served up yet another editorial filled with half-truths and distortions directed at the state's teachers.
An April 19 editorial, entitled "Time for teaching", claimed that the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) had rejected "a similar offer" to that accepted by the independent schools; this, it argued, was proof of the unacceptability of the union's ongoing industrial campaign.
But the offer made by the NSW government to the NSWTF was not similar to the offer made to independent schools. Independent schools received a 16% pay rise over four years without any trade-offs on their working conditions, as well as increased long service and maternity leave.
Teachers in government schools were also offered 16% — but only if "certain conditions" (trade-offs) were agreed to. It is these "certain conditions", such as government attempts to lengthen the teaching day, which are the main sticking point.
The other sticking point, which the Herald refuses to recognise, is the substantial disparity between the pay rates offered to casual teachers in the private and public sectors.
The state's teacher shortage has meant that many public schools have great difficulty in attracting permanent or even casual teachers for either day-to-day or longterm positions. Faced with a choice, many teachers understandably pick the school which offers the best pay and conditions — the private school.
The Catholic school system receives 95% of its funding from the state. If one "almost-government" school system can allow a decent level of remuneration, why can't the actual government school system?
The Sydney Morning Herald's editorial writer also argues that the state government has been too soft on the union, stating, "How could Mr Carr not be sympathetic with the Federation's aspirations? He is an outstanding example of the NSW government school system."
That Carr is an "outstanding example" of the NSW government school system is questionable enough; his loyalty to public education is even more so. Public schools are suffering under this government, at the expense of private ones.
According to the April edition of the NSWTF's journal, Education, "St Andrews Cathedral school will this year receive at least $420,000 from the NSW government and $470,000 from the commonwealth government. Its enrolment is approximately 600 students, years 7-12. The NSW figure includes textbook allowances from the state government."
In contrast, "Forest Hill Public School would like smaller class sizes, executive release, another classroom, new toilet facilities and more equipment for students."
Many public schools across NSW even suffer dirty classrooms, resulting from inadequate budgets for cleaning staff.
In the same edition of Education, Public Schools Principal Forum chairperson Brian Chudleigh said, "To reduce their overheads, contractors were reducing labour" and that, at his school, "unemptied rubbish bins attract vermin. That is a health risk. Money had come out of the school's budget to rid the school of cockroaches and fleas."
As part of its campaign of misinformation, a March 20 editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald claimed the union's bans on the ELLA tests were part of its salaries campaign.
Once again the Herald is wrong. The NSWTF does not oppose the ELLA tests and the bans are not related to the current salary campaign.
ELLA is a literacy test designed to provide diagnostic information on students for classroom teachers and parents. The NSW government made a decision last year to use the results of the 1999 test as a basis for determining the allocation of Support Teacher Learning Difficulties resources to schools in the year 2000.
This resulted in the wholesale transfer of teachers, with some schools losing staff. This was a misuse of the test, as it was never designed for this purpose.
All the NSWTF sought was an agreement that the unprofessional misuse of the results would not occur in 2000 or in subsequent years. The Carr government has failed to give this assurance. Teachers throughout NSW's high schools have thus had no alternative but to ban the administration of the ELLA test.
The NSWTF is one of the only unions in NSW that has stood up to the NSW Labor's Peter Reith-style attacks. This is why the Herald/Telegraph duopoly in Sydney has failed to split the overwhelming majority of dedicated members from their leaders.