Labor has pledged a $400 million package for what they call underfunded public schools if they win the state election this coming March in a move that has been welcomed by educators, but locally, there are some concerns the pledge doesn’t address the teacher shortage issue.
There are currently 14 teacher vacancies in Broken Hill, and in the electorate of Barwon there are a total of 116 unfilled teacher positions in public.
Broken Hill Teachers Federation life member and retired educator Maureen Clark cautions that Labor’s plan won’t be the cure-all the sector needs.
“This funding that we are talking about is not to benefit teachers through any pay increases. Both students and teachers will benefit from improvements to learning conditions that should be developed,” Ms Clark told the Barrier Truth.
“And don’t get me wrong, that’s great. But we need to address the issue with teacher vacancies both locally and state-wide or things simply will not improve.”
New South Wales Teachers Federation president, Angelo Gavrielatos, praised Labor’s promise and said it would end what he described as an injustice perpetrated by both the Perrottet and Morrison governments which he says left public schools dangerously underfunded, while their private school cohorts had a surplus of capital.
“Labor’s announcement shows they are prepared to end this injustice and ensure that every public school across NSW is fully funded. If Labor wins the [state] election in March, we want to see an agreement struck with the
Albanese [federal] government on full funding of public schools as soon as possible,” said Mr Gavrielatos.
“The proposed investment in additional teachers, school counsellors and a permanent literacy and numeracy intensive learning program would make a real difference for teachers and the children they educate.”
