What doesn't the Minister's Letter Say?
Posted: 16 May 2012
Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli sent the attached letter to the Federation in response to Federation's request for guarantees and assurances around aspects of the government's Local Schools Local Decisions policy. What follows is the Federation's analysis of the Minister's letter. "I write in response to your letter of 3 May 2012, regarding the Local Schools, Local Decisions, education reform.
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Critically important that members attend stopwork meetings
Posted: 15 May 2012
Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron explains in this video why it is critically important for members to attend stopwork meetings on Friday 18 May.
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Venues - Stopwork Friday 18th May
Posted: 15 May 2012
Executive has authorised all School And OCAA members* to attend stop-work meetings for up to two hours on Friday 18 May at venues across NSW. The broadcast will begin at 9.00am sharp. The purpose of the meetings will be to hear detailed reports on the very serious impact that Local Schools, Local Decisions and other State Government policies will have on working conditions, student learning opportunities and the resourcing of our schools.
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Salaries Staffing and Security Update: May Council Decision
Posted: 10 May 2012
In its first state budget in 2011, the NSW Government announced its intention to reduce public sector expenditure by $10 billion over the next four years and abolish 5000 public service positions. This cost cutting agenda includes the capping of all public sector salaries at 2.5% per annum.
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Letter to Adrian Piccoli re Devolution Questions
Posted: 10 May 2012
3 May 2012          The Hon Adrian Piccoli, MP Minister for Education Level 34, Governor Macquarie Tower 1 Farrer Place SYDNEY  NSW  2000 Facsimile: (02) 9228-5492 Dear Minister
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Cheaper teachers: report
Posted: 10 May 2012
Sydney  Morning herald reported yesterday that the largest change in teacher numbers will occur over the next five years. 20,000 new teachers will need to be employed to replace those reaching retirement. Federation president, Maurie Mulheron, commented that Local Schools, Local Decisions reform package will allow principals to replace long-serving permanent teachers with recent graduates who could be hired as casuals or on short-term arrangements.
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Survey of preschool teachers and principals
Posted: 9 May 2012
Public school preschool teachers and principals are being surveyed on the impact of the introduction of preschool fees.  The introduction of fees for public school preschools was announced in last year’s State Budget.  Even though principals have the power to grant fee exemptions, Federation is aware of some preschools reporting falling enrolments as a result of the introduction of fees and problems between parents over exemptions.
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Local Schools Local Decisions: May Council update (Vodcast)
Posted: 5 May 2012
Mauire Mulheron discusses the decision taken at Federation Council today.  
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Every Student, Every School : update
Posted: 4 May 2012
Federation met with the DEC on May 2 regarding the implementation of the Every Student, Every School changes to the way support is provided for students with disabilities and special needs. The attached fax outlines the undertakings provided by the DEC in response to issues and concerns raised. Federation has requested another meeting as soon as possible to determine a state-wide process for re-allocating teachers from the current specialist support teacher roles to the new generalist positions.
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Channel Ten News runs story on Devolution
Posted: 4 May 2012
Last night the Channel Ten News broadcast featured a story on the government's devolution agenda. You can watch the story on the Ten News website by clicking here.
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Sydney May Day march: 6 May 12 noon
Posted: 3 May 2012
The annual  Sydney May Day march will commence at Hyde Park, on Sunday 6 May at 12noon. May Day is celebrated in Australia and globally as a day to recognise international worker solidarity and acknowledge the sacrifices made by working women and men around the globe for better conditions and pay.  Australia has always been at the forefront of striving for better conditions for workers and the struggle for the eight hour day that began in Australia represents the earliest origins of May Day.
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Rosemary Richards Scholarship 2012
Posted: 1 May 2012
The AEU Rosemary Richards scholarship provides a wonderful opportunity for women to increase their skills and experience within the union at a state, national or international level. Applicants are required to develop a proposal about how they would use the scholarship; this may include but is not limited to:
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Federation helping teachers combat homophobia in schools.
Posted: 1 May 2012
The NSW Teachers Federation is providing resources for teachers to help reduce homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism in schools. A Gender, Sexuality and Identity kit will be launched at the forum on the evening of Friday 4 May. This will follow a presentation by Roz Ward, a co-founder of the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria.
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IDAHO focus on workers: Sexuality Diversity in the Workplace - it pays off!
Posted: 1 May 2012
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Specialist Support at Risk
Posted: 1 May 2012
The Department of Education and Communities (DEC) Every Student, Every School will see a range of specialist support teacher positions turned into a single, generalist role. More than 1800 support teacher positions are being re-organised to provide what the DEC claims will be a specialist teacher presence in every classroom. Term 2 is intended as the planning phase for full implementation in term 3, but regions are rushing through changes and allocations without any proper state wide procedures.
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Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework: Federation response
Posted: 27 April 2012
The NSW Teachers Federation supports the development by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) of a national framework for teacher performance and development. President Maurie Mulheron said: “The document released yesterday quite rightly focuses on the ongoing professional development of all teachers. Federation believes every teacher has an entitlement to high quality professional development.
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Re-organisation of specialist support positions
Posted: 26 April 2012
Federation has consistently opposed attempts in recent years by the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) to change the delivery of student support services from a model based on a range of specialist positions to one based on a single, generalist role. Despite this opposition, the DEC is moving to implement this change through the ‘Every Student, Every School’ policy. Federation is pursuing this matter in meetings with the DEC as a matter of urgency.
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Advice to members in TAFE on Voting for Enterprise Agreements
Posted: 24 April 2012
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Podcast of Federation Update for 10 April 2012
Posted: 11 April 2012
Federation Update 10 April 2012 by NSWTF
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Trainee teacher scholarships close soon
Posted: 10 April 2012
Applications for the 2012 trainee teacher scholarships close at noon on Friday 27 April. Education students can join the Federation online. The NSW Teachers Federation Trainee Teacher Scholarships Committee will award 14 scholarships to successful applicants spread amongst the following 5 categories:  
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Resources wasted, support reduced. Special education capped.
Posted: 5 April 2012
Federal National Partnership monies, which were to see additional support go to students with disabilities, will be used by the state government to implement their initiative to cap the cost of special education and reduce expenditure into the future. This is despite this week federal Education Minister Garrett making it clear at a community meeting that federal money should not be used to reduce expenditure at the state level.
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Advice to TAFE members on enterprise agreements
Posted: 5 April 2012
The AEU NSW has been engaged in detailed good faith negotiations with TAFE over the provisions of proposed enterprise agreements on a consistent basis since the beginning of this year.  The union’s aim during these negotiations has been to ensure that all  working conditions are protected in the move to the federal industrial relations jurisdiction.  This became necessary because of the legislative changes in NSW that moved TAFE teachers' employment to the TAFE Commission.
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TAFE Federal Enterprise Agreement Update
Posted: 4 April 2012
This email was sent to all financial TAFE members earlier today:
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NSW Institute of Teachers Payment Due
Posted: 2 April 2012
The Department has advised Federation that any New Scheme Teacher who has not paid the 2012 registration fee to the NSW Institute of Teachers by 23 April will have his/her accreditation suspended and will not be able to teach in NSW. To avoid having their accreditation suspended, members are encouraged to make arrangements with the NSW institute of Teachers for payment of the fee.
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Education guarantee at risk in devolved systems (podcast)
Posted: 30 March 2012
The policies of devolution are not remote to NSW. Teachers in countries all over the world have been dealing with the consequences of similar policies. NSW Teachers Federation President Maurie Mulheron spoke candidly recently with Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation about the impacts of devolution policies on teachers and schools.   As a former teacher in NSW and former Senior Vice President of the Federation, Sharan Burrow expressed her concern for teachers and principals in our schools;
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