IPS

[Patrick F. Whalen]

I really have no right to comment since I no longer teach in the Government sector, however I believe that the push for Independent Public Schools will kill country education in WA. As a five year delegate from the Kimberley and a two year delegate from the Pilbara, I am aware that the number one concern of country teachers is the inability to get back to Perth. We will see teachers not wanting to go bush for fear that they cannot return in a few years. I don't care how many minutes of TV advertising DET does about how great it is to help coach your school's netball team in the country. Under McGowan DET already started to recruit country teachers form overseas. The shortage will get worse if IPS program goes ahead.

[Independent]

Pat, teachers will be offered financial incentives to work at 'hard to staff' schools.

Note the SSTUWA application at WAIRC has failed.

Raggedy Anne's threat;

"we 'may' 'end up' 'saying' 'we are interested in' 'looking at' a strike 'with' our members, 'some form' of industrial action" :-

The usual worthless, meaningless posturing.

The (at best) half of the members of half the branches who count for less than half the government school teachers  are rattling their piece of limp lettuce, not for the 'educational benefit of the the state's kids', (which is not and never has been the role or function of the teachers' union), but because they take their instructions from their string pullers at the Labor Party without thinking for themselves. They're told  their jobs and conditions are threatened.  I suppose for those dolts, they probably will the first to be sloughed off as the dead wood is removed from our schools - and that WILL BE to the betterment of the education of our kids.

[old friend]

...yes, and then we will be stuck with a system of Haves and Have nots....

There is nothing to be gained from this stupid Liberal "policy"....
parents will fall for it because it LOOKS like they may have more control over Hiring/ Firing useless teachers but that will still just be a farce.
 Croneyism will thrive, no teacher will dare to speak their mind to a principal, and funding will be slashed as parents are left to fund raise for basic things. Small lobby groups will control P and C's, so their own little darlings' interests are protected. ( I have seen these in action, where the same area keeps getting funding because President's kid does that subject.)

Peter Collier must be laughing at all these issues he has dumped on poor Liz Constable...none of them HER fault, yet another Education Debacle of the Liberals' making.

It is a tragedy, when all their efforts ( and our taxes) will go into this garbage instead of DOING something useful with Education.

[Patrick F. Whalen]

Old Friend, the damage started several years ago with the "selected" or "protected" city positions that could not be filled by transfer. This was done while the Unity Union leadership sat on their hands because the ALP was in power. It was the beginning of the end of people going bush for a few years with an almost guarantee that they could get back to the city in 3 or 4 years. In the two years I was in Newman, I saw DET lose 4 brilliant treachers because they could not get back to the city (in all humility I am not counting myself).

[govt school teacher]

FIRST INTAKE OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC SCHOOLS

1. Ballajura Community College
2. Beaumaris Primary School
3. Belmont City College
4. Bletchley Park Primary School
5. Campbell Primary School
6. Canning College
7. Carson Street School
8. Comet Bay Primary School
9. Corrigin District High School
10. Duncraig Senior High School
11. Durham Road School
12. Esperance Primary School
13. Highgate Primary School
14. John Curtin College of The Arts
15. Kingston Primary School
16. Lake Grace District High School
17. Manea Senior College
18. Mindarie Senior College
19. Nedlands Primary School
20. Neerigen Brook Primary School
21. Roseworth Primary School
22. Rossmoyne Senior High School
23. Sevenoaks Senior College
24. South Halls Head Primary School
25. Warriapendi Primary School


Clusters

26. Challis Early Childhood Education Centre
27. Challis Primary School
28. Coorow Primary School
29. Perenjori Primary School
30. Three Springs Primary School
31. Ashdale Secondary College
32. Ashdale Primary School
33. Madeley Primary School
34. Landsdale Primary School

Congratulations to all those school communities. There's a lot of work to be done. Best wishes!

[Primary Teacher2]

The teachers at these schools will work harder alright!  In a few years they will be the unhappiest teachers in the state.

They will attend more meetings, complete more paperwork, be more scrutinized, reinvent more wheels and suffer more workplace bullying than they ever did.

[Independent]

Well, PT, if you're worried about that, rest assured they'll not be alone, as the next roll out of Independent Govt Schools will follow in about a year's time and there will most likely be far more than the 34 schools which got first got the nod. (to do what they WANT and ASKED to do)

The Editorial in today's (25 September)  West Australian "No justification for threat to disrupt schools" (P20) re-states some of the points I made above.

From the editorial;

"The union has a legitimate interest in protecting and improving its members' industrial conditions: that's its job. However running the public school system and setting education policy is the Government's job."

and

"The union leadership's ideological slip is showing in its other objection:it clearly is wedded to the idea of centralised bureaucratic control, a one-size-fits-all uniformity across all state schools."

In any case, as we all know, the union exec's limp 'threats' do not even amount to bluff. It's just fluff.

[Michael Findlay]

Take care how you vote. If we get Gisbourne back the union will remain Piss Weak.

[Secondary Teacher]

It is important that Union members vote, and they vote for Members First - both the leadership team and Executive - we cannot afford another 10 years of Unity in charge. I encourage all MF supporters to encourage their colleagues to vote for MF - I know a lot of teachers just throw the election voting papers in the bin, but if teachers really want to see an improvement with how the union operates we need to get rid of what is currently leading us now. Go Members First.