Julie Bishop exposed on ‘performance’ pay

By Maree O’Halloran

The Federal Coalition Government will push so-called "performance" pay into schools but has no intention of increasing federal funding to pay for the scheme.

Under the headline "Costello overrules Bishop's pay plan", The Australian reported on March 21: "Peter Costello has ruled out a large scale federally funded program to deliver performance pay for the nation's teachers, despite Education Minister Julie Bishop's championing of the issue."

On the same day Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop again signalled that she would withhold $9 billion in federal funding to public schools unless the states introduced "performance-based" pay for teachers (The Age, March 22). No responsible government should (or would) be threatening to withhold funds from public schools and students. In 2005 for every $1 the Federal Government directly spent on a public school student, it spent $5 on a private school student.

The state and territory education ministers will meet with Ms Bishop in April to discuss the next quadrennium Commonwealth/state funding arrangements for schools. These arrangements are supposed to take effect from 2009.

Ms Bishop has three schemes in mind:

• payment according to students' exam results
• payment according to surveys of peers, parents and students
• bonus pay to be parcelled out at school level.

Such schemes have been discredited in American states where they have been introduced. The Federal Department of Education told the media that in Arkansas new research showed how "performance" pay improved teachers' careers. In fact, only a handful of schools trialled a scheme funded by Wal-Mart. The research was conducted by academics paid by Wal-Mart for the Watton family which backs "performance" pay. Not surprisingly, the research found that teachers who earned bonus pay for teaching to the test thought the pay was good for their careers. At least in the Arkansas scheme a funding source was available. There will be no such funding from the Federal Government.

The Federal Government's obsessive push to introduce ill-considered, "bonus" pay schemes and individual contracts into NSW public schools is completely counterproductive. The schemes will cause division and disruption in schools where staff currently work productively to produce the best outcomes for students.

Ms Bishop and the Federal Coalition Governments' policy is to deregulate the salary and working conditions of teachers. Federation has successfully fought this agenda before and will do so again. The Your Rights at Work campaign is now clearly about teachers' rights at work. The Federal Government has not been able to capture public education teachers by WorkChoices so it has turned to blackmail using federal funding as the lever.

Federation's Annual Conference will also initiate the next salaries claim which will be about valuing the whole profession rather than a few individuals. This will place the union on the front foot against Ms Bishop's "harebrained" schemes.

Maree O'Halloran is the President.

Rally for rights at work on April 22

Rockers line up for rights rally

May Day march and rally May 6

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