http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/productivity-report-calls-for-sc...

PERFORMANCE bonuses for high-performing teachers should be shelved, the Productivity Commission has recommended.

Victoria is the only state taking part in a pilot pay bonus trial for top teachers, which has been unpopular with teachers.

The federal government unveiled plans last year for a national performance bonus scheme, which will start paying teachers in 2014.

But the commission said the government should introduce that scheme as a temporary measure only, to test whether the scheme would actually work.

Any payments should be offered to high-performing teachers only, so the scheme ''does not entrench an expectation that higher certification automatically entitles teachers to higher pay''.

''Early results from these trials, together with the long history of mixed results from the US and elsewhere, suggest that an effective and widely applicable bonus system is unlikely to emerge in the forseeable future,'' the commission said.

It said a more costly option, but one that should be considered, was to transform teaching from annual pay increments to a ''performance-based career structure''.

The federal president of the Australian Education Union, Angelo Gavrielatos, welcomed the finding. ''The problem is, it's a one-off reward, a one-off bonus. What we need is a competitive professional salary for all teachers, to attract and retain the teachers that we need.''

The federal School Education Minister, Peter Garrett, said the report recognised the reforms that the government had begun to recruit and reward talented teachers.

''The report makes a number of recommendations to improve the schools workforce, but recognises that we are already making important changes in this area,'' Mr Garrett said.

''For example, we are already delivering on the report's finding that teachers need better feedback and support, with the release last week of a consultation paper for a national teacher appraisal system. This will see every teacher receive annual constructive feedback on their performance.''

But the report also revisited teacher underperformance, to which it said policymakers paid too little attention. ''Though there appears to have been little formal research on this issue, available data indicate that very few teachers in government schools are ever deemed to be underperforming.'' The commission said principals should have the power to fire teachers who failed to improve their performance.

Howard diverted billions dollars of public funds to the exclusive private schools so its no wonder there is a problem funding public schools.
An overhaul of Howards system of robbing poor families of a decent education just so the elite can have expensive latte machines and manicured tennis courts has always been a disgrace and is a long time coming.

what would you do if you were education minister??


Heaven help us if that ever happens Cods.

cods wrote on May 5^th, 2012 at 7:36am:


You can thank Howards cuts that led to todays skills shortage...the time to pay the piper had to come.
Experts had been warning of a skills shortage as Howard cut vital programs to divert billions into the pollies superannuation slush fund so neo cons can never say they were not warned of the consequences of Howards shortsighted politically motivated policies.

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As we know as soon as this govt makes any sounds about clawing back the taxpayers money Howard handed to the blue bloods the junk media and born to rule class scream from the rooftops.
This govt does not have the courage to stand up to the billionaires that now run the Liberal and National parties and the country.

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I couldnt agree more and with Peter Whish-Wilson taking Bob Browns place in the Senate they are showing they are now the only party for small business, the environment and policies for the future of this country.
Now the Libs, Nats and LNP are owned by a handful of self serving multi billionaires and the Labor Party is crippled with fear the Greens are only the party for the future.

Maqqa wrote on May 5^th, 2012 at 8:50am:


There was never any need to rip taxpayers money out of the public system to pour into the elite schools.
This was all about rewarding these schools for supporting Howard and the Liberal Party at the expense of those that really needed the funding.
The same has also been said about the private health funds and hospitals, the money taken out of the public system and handed to them was as a reward for their long term support of the Liberal Party and has been at the expense of the public health system.
All of this has been known since the day Howard started using taxpayers money to reward certain sectors for their support.

Maqqa wrote on May 5^th, 2012 at 8:50am:


Isn't the whole liberal mantra about letting the market forces decide? If these private schools can't cut it in the real world without government funding, they shouldn't be there. Its hypocrisy on the liberal parties end to scream about market forces until they are blue in the face, and then subsidies these private enterprises with money that is desperately needed by our public schools.