Cheaper teachers: report

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.

He said ''What we will have is a totally deregulated staffing structure, with an increasing number of temporary positions, no incremental pay scale and no guaranteed executive structure.

''The department and the minister see this as a golden time. They can exploit the fact there are a lot of young people coming in and a cheaper workforce. But they can also change the culture by putting them on short-term or casual arrangements. We're extremely worried about the future of the profession.''

“Salaries, which typically account for 85 per cent of the budget in public schools, are the only way to secure significant savings in the education budget”

For the full story go to SMH online: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/younger-cheaper-teachers-to-fill-states-schools-20120508-1yb3n.html