Hello readers - let’s start today with a snap quiz. What should the top classroom teachers in Australia be paid?
Five years have passed since the Grattan Institute unveiled its recommended number, which would put top teachers’ pay at about $200,000 today.
The vision was that master teachers - the top 1 per cent of the profession - would take on a pivotal role, working across multiple schools. Their mission: to embed the most effective practices in every classroom.
Grattan set out a career structure where these teachers would lead their colleagues’ professional growth through rigorous classroom observation, personalised coaching and insightful feedback.
Teacher salaries: top target ‘not even close’
So what has happened since then? How close are we to top teachers pulling in $200K? How have pay rises - or the promise of pay rises - worked to ensure there is a suitably qualified teacher in front of every class, every day?
It’s no surprise that the $200,000 hasn’t happened. In reality, it’s not even close.
Last year, New South Wales teachers accepted an offer from the state government that meant many became the best paid in the country.
The deal, struck after months of negotiations and historic strike action, meant all 95,000 NSW teachers received pay rises in the range of $10,000. The starting salary for NSW teachers was set at $85,000. Those on the top pay scale were to be paid $122,100.
So, if that’s the national standard for classroom teacher pay - at a time of teacher shortages and workforce retention dramas - was the $200,000 vision ever realistic?
The most cohesive action to change the game for Australian teachers came with the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan - agreed by all education ministers in December 2022.
Major report fails to address pay
While there were 11 action items under Priority Area 3: Keeping the Teachers We Have, not one related directly to pay levels for teachers.
Workload featured. Mentoring and career pathways featured. Pathways for recognising quality teaching had two mentions.
But the best mention of paying teachers (and, remember, this plan was inked by every education minister in the country) came with a study of measures to support teacher retention.
Salary got a mention as being a topic worthy of further study, along with teacher superannuation scheme rules, taxation arrangements including the Higher Education Loan Program, and housing affordability factors such as stamp duty.
Perhaps paying teachers substantially more was just too great a leap for our politicians and leaders of non-government education sectors.
If salary only gets a mention as a dot point in a historic plan to address teacher shortages, at a time when states are reporting that they are substantially short of requirements (for example, 3,000 in NSW), then maybe there is no El Dorado for Australian teachers.
Teacher retention: cash incentives filling holes
In the absence of any appetite for a dramatic salary decision, what actions have been taken to retain teachers?
If a substantial pay boost for all teachers is not on offer, and not even up for discussion, how have policymakers moved to ensure there is a qualified teacher in front of every class?
While there has been substantial focus on teacher training (and that’s another story), there has also been some innovation as employers seek to staff schools for the current year:
These actions provide an indication of the intent for pay changes. Systems are moving quickly to throw cash incentives to fill small holes, stuffing money into areas of immediate, crucial needs.
But taking another look at wholesale teacher pay scales, even in the moment of a workforce crisis? It seems that is a bridge too far - and that might be the greatest risk for the future of Australia’s teaching workforce.
John Cole is a Year 7 teacher in the Australian Capital Territory. He is currently writing a thesis on career paths for Australian teachers
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