Government Unveils Options To Reward Excellence In Teaching

Options for rewarding excellent teachers with higher pay and enhanced status have been unveiled today in a new paper from the NSW Government.

Under options released for consultation today, classroom teachers who are assessed as ‘expert teachers’ under the Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program could attract salaries of up to $147,000 a year, or beyond, in recognition of their skills and impact.

Welcoming the Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program, Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Adam Crouch said the reforms are a key component of the NSW Government’s focus on building a modern education system that recognises and rewards excellence in our classrooms.

“It’s fantastic to see the Government taking action to recognise and reward the great teachers we have in our public schools, including across the Central Coast,” Mr Crouch said.

“This is all about keeping our best teachers in the classroom, teaching our students and improving outcomes.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell highlighted how the reforms had the backing of the teaching workforce.

“Initial feedback shows that around 3 out of 4 teachers in NSW would be interested in putting themselves forward for such a role,” said Ms Mitchell.

“This supports our approach and I’m looking forward to hearing more from the profession on our proposed plans.”

Developed by Professor John Hattie, a world-leading expert on education outcomes, the Options Paper proposes the creation of new teaching roles across schools with salaries ranging from $117,000 to $147,000, depending on the proportion of mentoring and collaboration time the teacher undertakes.

The Paper asks a series of questions of the teaching workforce and key stakeholders around the best pathways for identifying, selecting and allocating these roles.

Over the next four weeks more than 100 roundtables will be held with teachers and other school staff, from Murwillumbah in the north to Broken Hill in the west and Cooma in the state’s south, to hear their feedback on the Options Paper. Staff will also be able to share feedback via online through a survey.

Professor Hattie said it is important this policy is built from the profession up, rather than from the top down. 

“We want to hear from teachers across this entire state to ensure we get the policy right and to find the best way to get great teachers to remain in the classroom,” Professor Hattie said.

“We already know from feedback to date that schools see this reform as worthwhile, but it’s important in this next step to hear exactly how they want to see it work.”

The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program is expected to start in 2023, and scale up across the education system over time.

Consultation is open until 25 November 2022.

A copy of the policy options paper released and the consultation survey can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/rewarding-excellence-in-teaching.