The Department of Education is calling for feedback on a suit of options to reward excellent teachers with higher pay and enhanced status.
Welcoming the Department’s Rewarding Excellence in Teaching – Options Paper, the Minister for Education and Early Learning, Sarah Mitchell said that under the options, classroom teachers who were assessed as ‘expert teachers’ could attract salaries of up to $147,000 a year in recognition of their skills and impact.
“This approach is about recognising and rewarding the great teachers we have in our public schools, with the aim of keeping them in the classroom where they do their magic,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Initial feedback shows that around three out of four teachers in NSW would be interested in putting themselves forward for such a role,” she said.
“This supports our approach and I’m looking forward to hearing more from the profession on our proposed plans.”
Ms Mitchell said the Options Paper proposes the creation of new teaching roles across schools with salaries ranging from $117,000 to $147,000, depending on the proportion of mentoring and collaboration time the teacher undertook.
She said the Paper, open for consultation until 25 November, asked a series of questions of the teaching workforce and key stakeholders about the best pathways for identifying, selecting and allocating these roles.
Ms Mitchell said the Paper was developed by John Hattie, a world-leading expert on education outcomes.
Professor Hattie said it was important the policy be built from the profession up, rather than from the top down.
“We want to hear from teachers across this entire State to ensure we get the policy right and to find the best way to get great teachers to remain in the classroom,” Professor Hattie said.
“We already know from feedback to date that schools see this reform as worthwhile, but it’s important in this next step to hear exactly how they want to see it work,” he said.
The Department’s 36-page Options Paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
