By John Gauci
SYDNEY — Over the past two weeks, Rupert Murdoch's Daily Telegraph has attacked teachers and their union, the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF), in a series of sensationalist front-page stories that contain little more than gross distortions and half-truths.
In a March 13 front-page story by David Penberthy, "How teachers' union has obstructed school reform", the Daily Telegraph accused the NSWTF of blocking or banning every key education reform the state government has introduced in the past five years. NSWTF spokesperson John Hughes told Green Left Weekly that the "information provided by the NSW Labor government is wrong. It's a dishonest list.
"The Telegraph article portrays many of the bans as permanent. In reality, many bans were only temporary. They were put in place by the federation while in dispute with the [NSW Premier Bob] Carr's government for its breach of the award or enterprise agreements. These bans were lifted as soon as the disputes were resolved. Also, some of these bans were placed on educational grounds."
The Daily Telegraph even listed bans which were never imposed. The plethora of new departmental programs, policies, procedures and curriculum documents implemented by teachers is ignored by the newspaper. Federation involvement in a vast range of departmental committees is similarly ignored.
The same March 13 article claimed that the NSWTF "... has subjected students and parents to 20 days of strike action in the past 12 months; one strike for every fortnight of the school year".
Hughes responded: "There have been 18 to 19 occasions when some schools were involved in strikes. Some of these were rolling strikes where a quarter of the state's teachers strike for a day, followed by another quarter striking the following day and so on. When you add up the total number of days accurately, the correct figure is five and a quarter days. The Telegraph has simply totalled every individual action to arrive at the grossly distorted figure of 20 days."
The Telegraph described NSW teachers' conditions, such as sick leave and annual leave provisions, as generous. Hughes explained that "sick leave provisions are generous in some aspects but not in others. Teachers have historically been entitled to a reasonable number of sick days because of the significant contact they have with children, who tend to be sick more often. Many public servants receive less annual sick leave than teachers but have a far more generous accumulation factor.
"Teachers' 11 weeks' holidays include virtually all public holidays. Many workers now receive flexi-days or roster days off."
Teachers who work on a permanent part-time basis receive proportionate pay for the time they work. There is no compensation for the additional time permanent part-time teachers spend at staff meetings and other duties.
The Daily Telegraph compared NSW teachers' conditions with their New York City counterparts and, once again, got it wrong. The paper claimed that the working week in New York schools is "31 hours a week, primary and secondary". The Telegraph compared this to 18 hours 40 minutes teaching a week in NSW secondary schools and 21 hours 40 minutes in primary schools.
"This is inaccurate to say the least", Hughes told Green Left Weekly. Thirty-one hours and 40 minutes is the New York school week, not the face to face teaching load. Comparing like with like, the NSW school week is 32.5 hours."
According to the Daily Telegraph, teachers' average salary in New York is US$48,710 (A$79,280). The newspaper compared this with "80% of NSW teachers [who] have nine years' service, earn $50,175 as step nine teachers".
Again the Telegraph does not compare like with like. Hughes pointed out: "The NYC classroom rate extends from US$31,910 to US$70,000. A classroom teacher at the top of the scale in NYC is paid A$114,754, compared with A$50,175 in NSW." The NYC salary scale goes up to 22 years of service and rewards post-graduate study.
Ironically, while the NSWTF is under attack by the Daily Telegraph, the United Federation of Teachers (New York City) is under similar attack by the Daily News, a New York tabloid.
The Daily Telegraph also criticised teachers for not accepting the "16% pay offer" made to NSW nurses and state public servants. Hughes responded: "To begin with, this is not a 16% pay offer. Only 10% is being funded by the Treasury, while the other 6% is to be funded by further savings, meaning more cuts to public education.
"The department and the Carr government are running a deliberate campaign of misinformation to discredit the federation and depict us as dinosaurs. The Carr government has a very authoritarian way of running government and doesn't like dissent.
"The truth is we are in conflict over a wide range of issues, including cuts to education. This isn't just a salaries campaign."
The March 13 Telegraph story and lead editorial make much of unnamed teachers who fear vilification if they speak out against the union. Hughes rejects this: "Teachers who read the federation journal, Education, or who attend the open meetings of the federation council, know that there are many teachers who regularly speak out when they believe their union is on the wrong track.
"Where is the Telegraph's evidence of vilification? The Telegraph hasn't published a single teacher's letter criticising the federation while being swamped by letters of support. Where is the Telegraph's concern for teachers vilified because they support their union?"
The Telegraph attacks the NSWTF's leaders. Unlike department of education and training bureaucrats and self-appointed media experts, the federation council, senior officers and annual conference delegates are directly elected by teachers in postal ballots conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission.