Collective effort forges breakthroughs

By Maree O’Halloran

Teacher unions will maintain their strength even if the Prime Minister completely deregulates industrial relations.

Experience in countries like New Zealand, which experimented with radical industrial laws designed to force individual contracts of employment, shows that teacher unions were still able to forge collective bargains about salaries as well as teaching and learning conditions.

With union density over 90 per cent and an educated, articulate membership who work collectively and advocate bravely, I have no doubt the Federation will remain a heartland union in Australia. Of course, Federation can only maintain such strength if we continue to recruit and convince members to argue our ideas and policy passionately in their communities and in every possible forum.

Our responsibility as a strong union begins with our members and extends to supporting those unions and workers who are most vulnerable to a Federal Government industrial relations regime designed to drive down the cost of labour.

In the last two years, in the face of governments underfunding public education and promoting private schools, collective effort by Federation members has resulted in a number of breakthroughs. The reduction of class sizes K-2 is a significant achievement. It followed a long Federation campaign strengthened by the findings of the Vinson Inquiry.

At one of Federation's recent Beginning Teacher Conferences, I meet Joanne who is in her second year of teaching. In her first year, Joanne taught a kindergarten class of 29 students. This year she has a kindergarten under 20. To listen to her describe the differences in the students' learning outcomes only four weeks into the school year underscores the union's objectives.

An important side effect of this breakthrough is that small kindergarten classes are attracting parents from private schools to their local public schools. We must be prepared, therefore, for private school lobbyists who dominate the media and politicians' ranks to work overtime to damage what has been achieved. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, they are aided by funding and operational problems inherent in the State Government's election promise. The result is difficulties for some schools which we must address on a case by case basis while continuing to press for a staffing formula that provides for a maximum of 20 in K-3 classes.

The current and dominant right-wing educational philosophy is that class size reductions are not cost effective and not beneficial. If teachers and parents believe that class size reductions have not worked, or the State Government is convinced they have backfired politically, we cannot hope to achieve further gains.

Another significant breakthrough is the signing of a new staffing agreement for the next three years. Federation had been preparing to fight against an aggressive deregulation and devolution agenda in 2005. The successful staffing agreement now frees more union resources to campaign for other priority improvements such as more staff and more release time.

Between now and the State Budget we need to ensure that increased funding for public education becomes a political necessity for the State Labor Government. Well-maintained schools, technological assistance and the prevention of violence against teachers all require increased funding to our system. In the longer-term, following the Vinson audit release on May 19 (Public Education Day), we will have developed the planks of the public education resource package for campaigning in late 2005 and 2006.

In all our campaigns we need to be aware that the current media environment is even more dangerous for teachers and public schools than usual.

The Federal Coalition is attempting to destroy people's confidence in public education. Despite the Federal Coalition's outrageous funding policies, polling shows support remains strong for public schools. Hence, Prime Minister John Howard and Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson have begun undermining the values taught in public schools, the educational standards and the professionalism of public school teachers.

On February 8, in a radio interview, Mr Howard deliberately misconstrued arguments by NSW English Teachers Association President Dr Wayne Sawyer. Despite the Association covering private and public school teachers, Mr Howard said: "This kind of comment drives more people out of the public education system. It only confirms suspicions that people have that the public education system lacks the balance that's needed."

The Coalition at state and federal level is working in concert. The side effect for the state Coalition is that they can also mount a major attack on the Carr Government. The Coalition does not hesitate to use our schools as fodder in that attack, even when there will be no gain for public education as a result of the media involvement. Hence, violence in schools, raw sewage in public schools and a class sizes debacle in public schools have all been fed to the media recently. This is a no lose situation for the Coalition.

We, on the other hand, must always determine how teachers and public schools stand to gain by any media involvement.

The State Government's long-term chronic underfunding of our schools and the Federal Government's deliberate favouring of private schools must both be made public with the aim of reversing retrograde funding policies. However, in doing so we need to be conscious of the future of public education.

For example, the Sun Herald's front page on February 20 about other classes being increased to keep the kindergarten class small is true in some schools. However, the Coalition's purpose in feeding the story is mainly to allow Alan Jones and others to hammer the Coalition message.

On 2GB on February 21 Alan Jones said the "obsession that the Government seems to have with public school class sizes is misplaced".

"According to the NSW Public Schools Principals Forum...it's caused a blow out in numbers in other grades -- up to 36 in some classes, and an increase in composite classes because of the cap on kindergarten class sizes."

"No wonder parents are choosing to send their children to private schools," he concluded. Our media comments about the issues that arise because of lack of government investment in our schools need to emphasise that our great public schools can be even greater with increased government investment. Thus, without acquiescing to State and Federal Government policies which damage our schools, we can still emphasise the great work that happens everyday because of teacher effort.

For further information

March 2005 contents