DOZENS of schools across Melbourne’s west are closed today as up to 40,000 teachers walk out in the state’s biggest teachers’ strike.
With 200 schools across the state to close for the day, support staff are joining striking teachers for the first time in the state’s history, putting added pressure on a government that promised to make Victoria’s teachers the best paid in the country.
Teachers want a 30 per cent pay rise over three years and better job security, but the government is offering only 2.5 per cent yearly rise and demanding productivity gains.
Yarraville Special Development School principal Allan Cleland said he expected the entire staff of 30 to strike.
“This is justifiable action because there was a clear policy from the Baillieu government to make teachers the best paid in the country. Our performance warrants that promise to be kept.’’
A spokeswoman for for Higher Education Minister Peter Hall slammed striking workers, saying their demand for a 30 per cent pay rise was “out of touch with community standards”.
“The government is disappointed that the teachers union, despite months of positive negotiations, chose to break off negotiation and pursue legal action through Fair Work Australia,” she said. “They have favoured unnecessary industrial action which has inconvenienced parents and children in Victoria.”
Shadow minister for the teaching profession Steve Herbert blamed the government for the impasse. “You cannot blame teachers for the strike … the problem is parents have to take time off work and make different arrangements. There’s a huge impact on other industries.”
The strike comes as Prime Minister Julia Gillard revealed the federal government’s long-awaited response to the Gonski report on education funding.
The government has adopted the review’s core recommendation that every child’s education be supported with a benchmark amount of funding.
Ms Gillard pointed to the results of targeted funding at Braybrook College which delivered extra literacy lessons, computers, an upgraded school library and a new science lab.
“And it worked. Last year, almost 70 per cent of Braybrook’s year 12 students were offered a place at university.”
Premier Ted Baillieu said the federal government had failed to take any meaningful step towards a new funding partnership with states and territories.
“The Victorian government supports a dedicated focus on improving student outcomes by lifting teacher quality.”
