Fix this text
Education
Fix this textJOURNAL OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Fix this textTEACHERS FEDERATION
Fix this textAGREEMENT NO PP255003 00104
Fix this textVOL. 76 NO. 17 November 27, 1995
Fix this textDepartmental
Fix this textrestructuring:
Fix this textthe jackboot falls
Fix this textby Ray Cavenagh
Fix this textAll the falsehoods and
Fix this textdeceptions of the restruc-
Fix this textturing process are starting
Fix this textto be shaken out as plans
Fix this textare revealed, job descrip-
Fix this texttions emerge, and positions
Fix this textare won and lost.
Fix this textThe process began as a
Fix this textcost-cutting exercise. With
Fix this textthe political impossibility of
Fix this textcutting teacher numbers,
Fix this textthe system had to be recast,
Fix this textyet again.
Fix this textWhat is pain for one is
Fix this textopportunity for another.
Fix this textThe pain is for the
Fix this textDepartmental administra-
Fix this texttive staff, mostly at the
Fix this textlower levels, shed after
Fix this textyears of valuable service.
Fix this textThe pain is also for highly-
Fix this textskilled teaching service
Fix this textstaff replaced, relocated,
Fix this textor restructured out of a job.
Fix this textThere will be further pain
Fix this textfor schools and teachers as
Fix this textwell.
Fix this textThe opportunity is for
Fix this textsenior bureaucrats to
Fix this textdemonstrate the kind of
Fix this textworld they believe teachers
Fix this textshould inhabit.
Fix this textHaving failed to imple-
Fix this textment his version of the
Fix this textScott/Metherell “perform-
Fix this textance management” agenda,
Fix this textthe Director-General has
Fix this textbuilt a performance model
Fix this textright through the new
Fix this textsystem with the shift
Fix this textmoving from the tyranny of
Fix this textthe “performance agree-
Fix this textment” to the tyranny of
Fix this textnumbers.
Fix this textThe new system is about
Fix this textaudits the District
Fix this textSuperintendent is to audit
Fix this textand monitor, and “ensure
Fix this textthat specified student stan-
Fix this textdards are achieved”, what-
Fix this textever that means. The QA
Fix this textperson is to instruct schools
Fix this text“in the statewide require-
Fix this textments for reporting of
Fix this textschool performance”; the
Fix this textconsultants are to “monitor
Fix this textthe outcomes of literacy/
Fix this textnumeracy programs and
Fix this textreport to State Office.”
Fix this textBasically the District
Fix this textOffice work is about audit,
Fix this textand the audit is about
Fix this textnumbers Basic Skills
Fix this textTest numbers, School
Fix this textCertificate numbers, HSC
Fix this textnumbers, and also the
Fix this textnumbers which might arise
Fix this textfrom the “specified student
Fix this textstandards.”
Fix this textWhen taken up with the
Fix this textDirector-General and the
Fix this textMinister’s advisers they go
Fix this textto ground. “It hasn’t been
Fix this textworked out yet,” “we’re not
Fix this texttoo sure”, “Federation is
Fix this textexaggerating”, and they
Fix this textgive no information.
Fix this textFollowing the unilateral
Fix this textpre-emptive changes made
Fix this textto QA at the beginning of
Fix this text1995, changes which placed
Fix this textmore attention on audit
Fix this textthan improvement, Feder-
Fix this textation issued a series of
Fix this textwarnings to the
Fix this textDepartment and the
Fix this textGovernment, beginning
Fix this textwith Annual Conference in
Fix this textJuly. There was no sensible
Fix this textreply, and very successful
Fix this textbans were applied.
Fix this textThese bans will stay in
Fix this textforce until the Department
Fix this textand the Government are
Fix this textprepared to come to an
Fix this textagreement with Federation
Fix this textabout the new system, and
Fix this textits central focus. The longer
Fix this textit takes for them to come
Fix this texttotally clean with the teach-
Fix this texting service, the longer it will
Fix this texttake to resurrect QA.
Fix this textRay Cavenagh
Fix this textis the
Fix this textDeputy President.
Fix this textThe secretive cuts
Fix this textby Sue Simpson
Fix this textAt a recent meeting of the
Fix this textParliamentary Estimates
Fix this textCommittee, Minister Aquilina
Fix this textindicated that in 1991, when
Fix this textthe ALP thought it might win
Fix this textoffice, he devised a plan where
Fix this text“the regions would be abol-
Fix this textished and that the clumsy,
Fix this textthree-tiered, top heavy struc-
Fix this textture would be replaced with a
Fix this textmuch flatter, streamlined struc-
Fix this textture that would divert millions
Fix this textof dollars from administration
Fix this textto the schools and the areas
Fix this textthat actually mattered.” No
Fix this textmention was made of this
Fix this textduring the election campaign.
Fix this textIn 1995, Mr Aquilina and
Fix this textthe Director-General, Ken
Fix this textBoston, have misled teachers
Fix this textand administrative staff about
Fix this textthe nature of the Department’s
Fix this textrestructure. In his August 10
Fix this textmemorandum, Mr Boston
Fix this textclaimed: “The number of staff
Fix this textdirectly supporting schools will
Fix this textbe substantially increased.” He
Fix this textwent on to assert: “The consul-
Fix this texttancy service across all eight
Fix this textkey learning areas, which now
Fix this texttotals 80 people, will be
Fix this textdoubled.” At the Estimates
Fix this textContinued Page 4
Fix this textTAFE
Fix this textSTRIKE
Fix this textSee page 3
Fix this textTeachers to be
Fix this textcalled to action
Fix this texton salaries
Fix this textby Denis Fitzgerald
Fix this textTime is running out for the
Fix this textState Government on the
Fix this textquestion of teachers’ salaries.
Fix this textFor a government that said so
Fix this textmuch, both before and after
Fix this textthe election, about the status
Fix this textand salaries of teachers, they
Fix this texthave delivered nothing except
Fix this textplatitudes.
Fix this textOnly recently, the Premier
Fix this textrepeated previous sentiments
Fix this textwhen he declared to Alan
Fix this textJones that he wanted to “put
Fix this textto them [teachers], the sort of
Fix this textpropositions that might enable
Fix this textus to lift teachers’ remunera-
Fix this texttion to what it is in Canada, for
Fix this textexample, where teachers get
Fix this textroughly twice what teachers in
Fix this textNew South Wales schools get.”
Fix this textWe are still awaiting these
Fix this textpropositions.
Fix this textSettlements in other areas
Fix this textof the public sector (which
Fix this textaverage out at around 3 per
Fix this textcent per year) are simply not
Fix this textacceptable. Not even close.
Fix this textThe recent State Budget had
Fix this textforward estimates for the next
Fix this textfinancial year running at an
Fix this textinflation rate of 4.3 per cent
Fix this textwhile the CPI currently is aver-
Fix this textaging 5.1 per cent.
Fix this textFederation’s salaries camp-
Fix this textaign is about a real and
Fix this textsubstantial increase in the
Fix this textvalue of teachers’ salaries, and
Fix this textit forms part of Federation’s
Fix this textcampaign to raise the status of
Fix this textthe teaching profession.
Fix this textFederation will discuss and
Fix this textnegotiate with this Govern-
Fix this textment until all possibilities have
Fix this textbeen exhausted, but we fear
Fix this textthat economic rationalism has
Fix this textdescended so thoroughly on
Fix this textthe Government that they are
Fix this texteither unwilling or incapable
Fix this textof delivering real increases in
Fix this textteachers’ salaries via negotia-
Fix this texttion.
Fix this textOur existing enterprise
Fix this textagreement is due to expire. All
Fix this textteachers will receive at their
Fix this textworkplace information from
Fix this textFederation about the sort of
Fix this textlobbying and pressure they
Fix this textshould engage in to maximise
Fix this textthe message we must transmit
Fix this textto the Government.
Fix this textWe may well have to
Fix this textengage in stop-work action
Fix this textearly next year in order to fully
Fix this textinform all our members and to
Fix this textmake clear our determination
Fix this textto the Government.
Fix this textThe tiny salary settlements
Fix this texthappening elsewhere in the
Fix this textpublic sector would, in effect,
Fix this textlead to a reduction in the real
Fix this textlevel of teachers’ salaries.
Fix this textThe time is approaching
Fix this textwhere we will all have to stand
Fix this textup for the salary and status of
Fix this textthe teaching profession.
Fix this textDenis Fitzgerald
Fix this textis the
Fix this textPresident.
Fix this textThis
Fix this textedition
Fix this textFor the last edition until 1996, we’ve gone rather risque and thrown in a centrespread: a seasonal feature of Greg Gaul
Fix this textcartoons and the news in ‘95. This edition also sees the demise of one of our regular features; Ray Cavenagh’s final
Fix this textcolumn appears on page 16.
Fix this textOur next deadline is January 30 and please, articles of no more than one thousand words.
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
With your Trove account you can:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715162820
N.S.W. Teachers' Federation & New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation. (1919). Education : journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation Retrieved May 23, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715162820
N.S.W. Teachers' Federation and New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation. Education : journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation Sydney: The Federation, 1919. Web. 23 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715162820>
N.S.W. Teachers' Federation & New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation. 1919, Education : journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation The Federation, Sydney viewed 23 May 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715162820
{{Citation
| author1=N.S.W. Teachers' Federation.
| author2=New South Wales Public School Teachers' Federation.
| title=Education : journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation.
| year=1919
| section=volumes.
| issn=0013-1156
| issue=Vol. 76 No. 17 (27 Nov 1995)
| location=Sydney
| publisher=The Federation
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715162820
| id=nla.obj-715162820
| access-date=23 May 2025
| via=Trove
}}
Citations are automatically generated and may require some modification to conform to exact standards.
Select the images you want to download, or the whole document.
You can order a copy of this work from Copies Direct.
Copies Direct supplies reproductions of collection material for a fee. This service is offered by the National Library of Australia
Copyright varies by issue and article
Copyright varies with each issue and article. You may have full rights to copy, or may be able to copy only under some circumstances, for example a portion for research or study. Order a copy where circumstances allow or Contact us for further information.
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply.
For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Copy and paste one of these options to share this book elsewhere.