LABOR'S plan to pay teachers extra if they meet higher professional standards has drawn support from educators but sparked claims the party has backflipped on the issue of performance pay.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley today unveiled the policy, which brings his party closer to the Howard government's plan for merit-based pay.The office of Labor's education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin last month told AAP it was wrong to suggest Labor supported moves towards performance-based pay for teachers.
A spokesman for Ms Macklin today said the new pay policy, announced a year out from the election, would deliver the best possible outcomes.
It's the best thing for teachers and students, he said.
Announcing the policy today, Mr Beazley said a Labor government would give teachers $10,000 extra if they achieved certain professional standards.
Mr Beazley branded his policy standards-based pay, rather than performance- or merit-based.
He reiterated his opposition to linking teachers' pay to their students' academic performance.
What I want to see is a new set of high national standards for the teaching profession and I want to see teachers paid more when they achieve those standards, Mr Beazley told the Australian Council of State School Organisations.
To advance to the top professional level would require a higher contribution including, for example, mentoring other less experienced teachers and running professional development programs.
Teachers could receive salary packages of $100,000 if they agreed to work in tougher schools with high numbers of disadvantaged students and inexperienced teachers, he said.
The policy is aimed partly at stemming the brain drain of teachers to the private sector and to higher paying overseas jobs.
Mr Beazley flagged waiving HECS (HELP) debts for graduates who became mathematics, science or technology teachers.
Education Minister Julie Bishop said Labor had fallen into line with the government's policy on teachers' pay.
It would seem that Labor has adopted our ideas, and I welcome that because it will make it easier for me to negotiate with the state Labor governments in the lead-up to the next funding agreement, she told Sky News.
Ms Bishop has been promoting her idea of merit-based pay, including incentives for teachers who go on Australian Workplace Agreements, to reward teachers whose students achieve outstanding results.
The Australian Education Union today backed Mr Beazley's new policy. We support a standards-based approach, AEU federal secretary Pat Byrne said.
It's something that the unions have been arguing for, for a very long time.
Offering $10,000 extra to teachers who achieved higher standards would not pit staff against each other, Ms Byrne said, as it would be entirely up to individual teachers whether they wanted to have a shot at passing standards levels.
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said his state had already adopted a performance-based system for teachers.
That is a system which does reward experienced teachers and keep them in the classroom and responds by paying them extra to stay in the classroom, Mr Bracks said.
We really have that system in place now.
NSW Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt said all teachers employed in that state since October 2004 had to meet minimum accreditation standards set by the NSW Institute of Teachers.
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