The Minns government got off to a good start with education. There was talk about respecting the profession and promises to fulfil Labor's election commitment to address the uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads of teachers.
There was even the appointment of a Departmental Secretary with a teaching background - unthinkable only a year ago.
After enduring years of blame from the previous government, some teachers were moved to tears as they finally felt seen and heard, that their dedication was valued.
However, in the Hunter and across the state, the mood is worse than ever. Teachers are furious with the Premier for reneging on a one-year deal to lift wages for beginning and experienced teachers.
On May 31 this year - and reinforced on June 22 - following negotiations in good faith, the NSW Teachers Federation reached agreement with the Deputy Premier/Minister for Education and the Treasurer on a heads of agreement to vary the existing award. In an act of betrayal to both students and teachers, the government walked away from that deal, instead offering an inferior four-year award that would introduce a 2.5 per cent cap on pay increases and mean the continuation of a teacher shortage that is crippling our schools.
In the first few months of the NSW Labor government, the number of teacher vacancies in the state's public schools has grown. As of Term 3, 2023, there continues to be more than 2000 vacant permanent positions in NSW public schools. This represents an increase of almost 150 per cent since June the previous year.
Released earlier this month, a damning auditor-general report into regional, remote and rural education identified 922 permanent teacher vacancies in regional and remote schools during January this year. These shortages are crippling our schools - in the Hunter, in the bush and across the state. There are even shortages in Newcastle and affluent areas of Sydney because teachers simply can't afford to live there. NSW teachers are crossing the border to work in towns in the ACT, Queensland and Victoria where pay is much higher.
Vacancies in the Hunter and across the state will continue to increase unless this is addressed. Split classes and minimal supervision are becoming the norm in many Hunter schools as teachers burn out and leave the profession.
Teachers and parents are not the only ones furious with Labor over this act of betrayal. Hunter Workers recently moved a motion of support and formally wrote to the Minns government demanding it honour the deal. Even among Labor membership there is anger - the Dungog branch has formally condemned the actions of the Premier, Deputy Premier and Treasurer as an appalling reflection on the attitudes of the NSW Labor Party leadership towards all public sector workers, unions, and the children and families of NSW.
Hunter Labor MPs Harrison, Crakanthorp, Hornery, Aitchison, Washington, Barr and Catley have been put on notice by their teacher constituents, who are demanding they take action and honour the deal. Labor MPs stood behind our More Than Thanks Campaign events and independent inquiries before the election. They said they supported teachers and the profession. Now we will see if they are true to their word.
My daughter is 10, and she joined me at many of these events as teachers across the state campaigned for the respect, conditions and salaries they deserve. She is inspired by our democratic principles, and by the fact that we have five female MPs in the Hunter, four of them ministers. She is too young yet to be cynical about politicians and I don't have the heart to tell her that - after all the hard work and passion of that campaign - Labor has broken its promise and walked away from an agreed deal.
However, this is about more than one child's idealism. This is about the futures of all the kids in our public education system. This is about fixing the teacher shortages that are crippling our students' learning in the Hunter and across the state. Our students deserve a qualified teacher in every classroom, every day. If we don't pay teachers what they are worth, we simply won't get the teachers we need.
Many school mottos in the Hunter are "Deeds not Words". It's time for the Premier and government to act and honour the deal.
