Reward worthy teachers more will be a first step to slaughter the sared cow to improve Australian education system

That salary should be pegged to performance is a yardstick used across all industries. But political correctness and promises of equality will likely bring down our education system. There is a general reluctance to discuss or push ahead with pay differentiation to reward higher value added performance. Policy makers pandering to public opinion and unions are so cagey that they have long been afraid to roll out the criteria for high quality education. Without assessment, we will never find out the truth and differentiate the better teachers and reward them.

Quote : Previous attempts to improve teacher quality by attracting, retaining, recognising and rewarding accomplished teachers have largely failed. The main reason is that such schemes have never entered the mainstream to form an effective, coherent salary and career structure. Seemingly simplistic measures such as paying teachers on ''merit'' or by ''results'' are also doomed to fail. One-off bonuses don't work.
Salary scales for teachers based on years of service are 19th-century industrial artefacts that peak too soon and too low.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/building-a-better-pay-ladder-20110828-1jgd7.html

Quote : More than 50 per cent of year 8 students in Korea, Taiwan and Singapore achieve high level benchmarks in maths in the most recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, compared with less than 25 per cent in Australia. Alarmingly, more than 40 per cent of those Asian students reached the advanced level, compared with five per cent of Australian students.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/poor-teachers-set-students-back-years-20110826-1jeh8.html

It is ludicrous, unjust and pathetic that underpaid good teachers have to dig into their own pockets to pay for stationery which should be supplied by parents. Alas, some parents don't even bother or care about their children's education. The school and Education office wants to push the responsibility away, do not want to know or have anything to do with it.

Quote :
NSW teachers say they are spending thousands of dollars a year to buy basic classroom items, filling the gap between the Education Department and some parents who fail to equip their children with a pen and an exercise book.

http://m.smh.com.au/nsw/teachers-spend-own-cash-on-classroom-supplies-20110828-1jgnb.html

Given the high cost of living in Australia, teachers are not adequately compensated for their hard work. Cross country comparison of teachers' pay. Australian teachers are poorly paid. No wonder many have quit or complain that the work is unfulfilling.

http://www.worldsalaries.org/teacher.shtml

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/teacher-pay-around-the-world/

http://www.payscale.com/research/SG/Job=Secondary_School_Teacher/Salary
http://www.teachenglishtaiwan.net/teaching-in-taiwan/teacher-pay/

http://www.therationalradical.com/documents/teacherssalaries.htm

Investing in the human resources in the future generation is our greatest asset. This calls for prompt action and not allowing further degeneration of a longstanding problem.

Carbon tax during economic slowdown

Julia Gillard was not a fan of the carbon tax but was forced by paying tribute to the Greens that hold the swing in parliament to move forward with a bold front.

Open debate with everyone with an opinion chipping in their two cents worth has however caused more confusion than generate wisdom. Random posters who spew profanities are uncalled for and do little to benefit Australian public policy or its people.

Environmental issue is a serious one that deserves attention and concern of all responsible citizens of the world. Australia has to play its part to fulfil its global obligations even though others are at different stages, some more advanced or slower than others in certain clean energy and carbon pricing policies. There is no clear cut winner but for doing nothing, the biggest losers are all earthlings. We love ideals but do not wish to pay the price.

Politicking has hindered any meaningful progress.

The NSW government has cherry-picked all the scariest possible numbers in a way that is totally misleading and absolutely dishonest," Professor Quiggin said.

The modelling by Frontier Economics found there would be 6400 more jobs in Sydney in 2020 compared with the "business as usual" scenario without a carbon tax. By 2030 there would be 17,600 more. The modelling showed the city's economic output would be 0.3 per cent higher in 2020 with the tax, compared with business as usual, and 0.8 per cent higher in 2030.

Modelling experts have told the Herald the findings of both big job losses and strong regional output growth seem implausible. Large investments to expand the NSW coal sector recently, including in the Hunter, also seem at odds with predictions of a marked drop in employment in the industry.

http://m.smh.com.au/nsw/carbon-tax-job-outlook-upbeat-20110819-1j2f9.html

Bad news about the languishing steel industy shedding 1,000 jobs could not have come at a worse time.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/industry-poised-for-huge-job-cuts-20110821-1j4sr.html

This is inspite of the fact that the steel industry is poised to receive a large $300 million from government subsidy.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/steel-industry-is-the-biggest-winner-in-carbon-tax-plan/story-e6frg9io-1226091915717