Earn
Think tank wants to pay top teachers $180k
Australian teachers could be paid up to $180,000 under a new proposal by a think tank to help stop the nation’s students from falling further behind in reading, science and mathematics.

Think tank wants to pay top teachers $180k
Australian teachers could be paid up to $180,000 under a new proposal by a think tank to help stop the nation’s students from falling further behind in reading, science and mathematics.

According to the Grattan Institute, creating “master teachers” who are the top 1 per cent of the profession with no formal classes could act as pedagogical leaders, helping to support other teachers’ needs and training.
Peter Goss, school education program director for the Grattan Institute, believes while it’s not a cheap program, “there is extra money coming into government schools in the next few years”.
The master teachers would guide “instructional specialists”, with the hope that by 2032 there would be 20,000 instructional specialists and 2,500 master teachers.
To attract the best candidates, the jobs would pay $180,000 a year or $80,000 more than standard pay for teachers, while instructional specialists would receive $140,000.
Combined, the think tank believes it would boost student learning by 18 months by the time they reach the age of 15 and further professionalise teaching.
While the government’s new funding will cost $1,000 per student, the Grattan Institute’s plan would cost about two-thirds.
The report said: “The expert teacher career path would be expensive but affordable. For government schools, the cost would be a little over $400 million for the first four years.
“Costs would then rapidly increase. In 2032, when the model would be 80 per cent operational, it would cost government schools about $1.8 billion per year, or 3 per cent of their projected funding.
“Put another way, it would cost about $560 per government school student per year in 2032 compared to projected funding of $19,500 per student. This cost would drop if some existing instructional leadership programs were rolled into the expert teacher career path.”
About the author

About the author


Salary
Economists predict a further drop in unemployment
Economists are predicting further falls in the unemployment rate largely led by Victoria as it emerged from an extended lockdown, new research has revealed. ...Read more

Salary
Casual workers could lose $1k under new reforms
The opposition has claimed that the Morrison government’s plan to amend penalty rates could cost casual employees up to $1,100. ...Read more

Salary
Job vacancies surpass pre-COVID levels
The Australian economy is continuing to show signs of improvement, with job vacancies skyrocketing over the last quarter, official figures have revealed. ...Read more

Salary
Unions take Qantas to High Court over JobKeeper ‘misuse’
Aussie unions are taking their fight with Australia’s largest airline to the High Court following claims Qantas misused the JobKeeper payment to subsidise overtime payments, essentially robbing wor...Read more

Salary
JobSeekers urged to ‘turn off Netflix’ and work in regional Australia
The acting Prime Minister has urged unemployed Australians who are currently on JobSeeker benefits to "turn off Netflix" and look for regional work, as farmers struggle to find temporary foreign worke...Read more

Salary
Aussies rely on debt to get through pandemic
Australians are relying on personal credit to get through the COVID-19 pandemic according to survey results released by a financial institution. ...Read more

Salary
Stressed-out Aussies unlikely to receive pay rise
While Aussie workers are spending more time at work, and their stress levels are through the roof, they’re not receiving higher levels of pay, new research has found. ...Read more

Salary
Work in the gig economy could be costing you over $90k
Despite the growing popularity of the gig economy, workers in this space could face long-term financial disadvantages, a new research paper has found. ...Read more

Salary
Economists predict a further drop in unemployment
Economists are predicting further falls in the unemployment rate largely led by Victoria as it emerged from an extended lockdown, new research has revealed. ...Read more

Salary
Casual workers could lose $1k under new reforms
The opposition has claimed that the Morrison government’s plan to amend penalty rates could cost casual employees up to $1,100. ...Read more

Salary
Job vacancies surpass pre-COVID levels
The Australian economy is continuing to show signs of improvement, with job vacancies skyrocketing over the last quarter, official figures have revealed. ...Read more

Salary
Unions take Qantas to High Court over JobKeeper ‘misuse’
Aussie unions are taking their fight with Australia’s largest airline to the High Court following claims Qantas misused the JobKeeper payment to subsidise overtime payments, essentially robbing wor...Read more

Salary
JobSeekers urged to ‘turn off Netflix’ and work in regional Australia
The acting Prime Minister has urged unemployed Australians who are currently on JobSeeker benefits to "turn off Netflix" and look for regional work, as farmers struggle to find temporary foreign worke...Read more

Salary
Aussies rely on debt to get through pandemic
Australians are relying on personal credit to get through the COVID-19 pandemic according to survey results released by a financial institution. ...Read more

Salary
Stressed-out Aussies unlikely to receive pay rise
While Aussie workers are spending more time at work, and their stress levels are through the roof, they’re not receiving higher levels of pay, new research has found. ...Read more

Salary
Work in the gig economy could be costing you over $90k
Despite the growing popularity of the gig economy, workers in this space could face long-term financial disadvantages, a new research paper has found. ...Read more