Pay more for better teachers
THERE are few more important jobs than teaching.
One great teacher — just one — is enough to turn a struggling child’s life around. While the majority of teachers are dedicated and talented, there are those who don’t make the grade.
That is why more must be done to attract quality graduates to the profession.
The profession needs to fill vacancies.
And yet graduates — especially those with high ATAR scores — aren’t going into teaching.
The Grattan Institute released a report recommending graduates with ATARs of more than 80 should be given $10,000 scholarships to attract them to teaching.
As well, 5-8 per cent of teachers would become “instructional specialists” receiving $140,000 — $40,000 more than they’d get now.
And less than 1 per cent would become “master teachers” on $180,000 — a pay rise of $80,000.
Their research showed that young high achievers want to help others, but they are deterred by the low pay and lack of career progression in the profession.
Researchers say the plan will double the number of those with an ATAR of more than 80 going into teaching.
This is critical given that only 3 per cent of top graduates choose teaching these days compared with 19 per cent for science and 14 per cent for health.
There is a national trend towards a drop in first preference applications for teaching and a big part of the drift has been attributed to low salaries, particularly in the state sector.
Who’d want to be a teacher given that the starting salary is $70,000 compared with a graduate dentist who earns in excess of $100,000? I don’t blame them.
I’ll bet they’re also deterred by the idea of teaching alongside graduates too dumb to do anything else.
For too long teaching has been the home of higher education’s low-hanging fruit.
Some universities have even accepted students with ATARs as low as 17 points via transfer from other courses and other backhand methods.
While the system has tightened up, some of those teachers have remained.
The entry ATAR for teaching has now been raised to 70 but there are clearly some teachers who don’t know enough to teach others.
The increased ATAR score will take effect over the coming years, raising standards in the profession.
I believe it’s reasonable to expect higher standards are matched with higher pay.
I do not support the idea of performance pay which has been floated by Mark Latham, a One Nation MP in NSW. The Grattan Institute plan would cost $1.6 billion a year in government schools and about half that in private schools.
State and territory governments would pay the cost, while the independent sector would be expected to absorb the expense.
Let’s hope these suggestions are taken seriously by state and territory leaders.
Not only do I “respect everyone’s right to learn without interruption or disturbance” (note the apostrophe), I also respect their right to be taught by the smartest and most dedicated graduates.
I’LL BET THEY’RE ALSO DETERRED BY THE IDEA OF TEACHING ALONGSIDE GRADUATES TOO DUMB TO DO ANYTHING ELSE.