You can't handle the truth about Victoria's secret school cuts
Knowing he would be interrogated about his government's unannounced decision to delay by three years extra money public schools need to deliver the Gonski reforms, Carroll could either fess up or maintain the charade.
A part of him felt like channelling Colonel Nathan Jessup, Jack Nicholson's scene-stealing character in A Few Good Men. Colonel Carroll, did you oppose these funding cuts? You're God damn right I did!
Such a spontaneous outbreak of political honesty, aside from providing a moment of catharsis for Carroll, would have cleared the air around a bad decision already costing the Allan government more than the money it will save in future years.
Alas, there are no Hollywood endings in Spring Street and too few good men.
Carroll's other choice was to stick to a cynical script approved by advisers within the premier's private office in which he neither confirms nor denies the funding delay, refuses to acknowledge the financial impact on government schools and offers a vague promise to fully fund the Gonski reforms 'through the life of the agreement' – in other words, sometime in the next 10 years.
Having centred his tie to his satisfaction and given his neatly clipped, salt and pepper locks one final look in the mirror, Carroll decided discretion was the better part of valour.
He took his seat in estimates, looked back at his questioners and declared with Delphic circularity: 'We are getting on with doing everything that we are bound to do.'
Not even Jack Nicholson could do much with that line.
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State school teachers demand 35 per cent pay rise, smaller classes, reduced workload
The state's 52,000 government school teachers have demanded pay rises totalling 35 per cent over three years, reduced workloads, smaller classes and more mental health support. In its log of claims for a new enterprise agreement covering 1570 schools across the state, the Australian Education Union wants a 15 per cent pay boost in the first year of a new deal followed by 10 per cent in each of the second and third years. The increases would be based on the initial salary figure, and not compounded each year. In addition to the large wage rise, the teachers want smaller class sizes, more allied health and classroom support for students, more flexible working options, workload reductions and lower administrative burdens. Rank-and-file teachers and principals are in a mutinous mood after years of underfunding to government schools, a workforce crisis and a pay deal three years ago that delivered annual pay rises of 2 per cent, just as the cost-of-living crisis began to bite. They remain the nation's lowest-paid state education workforce with Victorian graduate teachers earning $13,000 less than the best-paid graduates in the Northern Territory and $8700 less than those in NSW. A group of unionists running on a 'strike now' ticket pulled in 37 per cent of the vote in internal elections late last year, and the union's state branch president Justin Mullaly told The Age in April that strike action was not off the table as part of teachers' campaign for better pay. Several hundred unionised teachers rallied at the electorate office of Education Minister Ben Carroll in Melbourne's north-west last month to voice their determination to fight for more money and better conditions. But the state's capacity to pay may be in doubt, with Treasury grappling with debts set to hit $167 billion this year and the government looking to cut 1200 jobs in a bid to save $3 billion. The government also secretly stripped $2.4 billion from future school spending by delaying by some years, money due to be spent under the long-promised Gonski reforms.
The Age
30-06-2025
- The Age
State school teachers demand 35 per cent pay rise, smaller classes, reduced workload
The state's 52,000 government school teachers have demanded pay rises totalling 35 per cent over three years, reduced workloads, smaller classes and more mental health support. In its log of claims for a new enterprise agreement covering 1570 schools across the state, the Australian Education Union wants a 15 per cent pay boost in the first year of a new deal followed by 10 per cent in each of the second and third years. The increases would be based on the initial salary figure, and not compounded each year. In addition to the large wage rise, the teachers want smaller class sizes, more allied health and classroom support for students, more flexible working options, workload reductions and lower administrative burdens. Rank-and-file teachers and principals are in a mutinous mood after years of underfunding to government schools, a workforce crisis and a pay deal three years ago that delivered annual pay rises of 2 per cent, just as the cost-of-living crisis began to bite. They remain the nation's lowest-paid state education workforce with Victorian graduate teachers earning $13,000 less than the best-paid graduates in the Northern Territory and $8700 less than those in NSW. A group of unionists running on a 'strike now' ticket pulled in 37 per cent of the vote in internal elections late last year, and the union's state branch president Justin Mullaly told The Age in April that strike action was not off the table as part of teachers' campaign for better pay. Several hundred unionised teachers rallied at the electorate office of Education Minister Ben Carroll in Melbourne's north-west last month to voice their determination to fight for more money and better conditions. But the state's capacity to pay may be in doubt, with Treasury grappling with debts set to hit $167 billion this year and the government looking to cut 1200 jobs in a bid to save $3 billion. The government also secretly stripped $2.4 billion from future school spending by delaying by some years, money due to be spent under the long-promised Gonski reforms.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
You can't handle the truth about Victoria's secret school cuts
As Ben Carroll was standing before his bathroom mirror on Wednesday morning knotting the striped tie he'd selected for his appearance before budget estimates, Victoria's education minister faced an important choice. Knowing he would be interrogated about his government's unannounced decision to delay by three years extra money public schools need to deliver the Gonski reforms, Carroll could either fess up or maintain the charade. A part of him felt like channelling Colonel Nathan Jessup, Jack Nicholson's scene-stealing character in A Few Good Men. Colonel Carroll, did you oppose these funding cuts? You're God damn right I did! Such a spontaneous outbreak of political honesty, aside from providing a moment of catharsis for Carroll, would have cleared the air around a bad decision already costing the Allan government more than the money it will save in future years. Alas, there are no Hollywood endings in Spring Street and too few good men. Carroll's other choice was to stick to a cynical script approved by advisers within the premier's private office in which he neither confirms nor denies the funding delay, refuses to acknowledge the financial impact on government schools and offers a vague promise to fully fund the Gonski reforms 'through the life of the agreement' – in other words, sometime in the next 10 years. Having centred his tie to his satisfaction and given his neatly clipped, salt and pepper locks one final look in the mirror, Carroll decided discretion was the better part of valour. He took his seat in estimates, looked back at his questioners and declared with Delphic circularity: 'We are getting on with doing everything that we are bound to do.' Not even Jack Nicholson could do much with that line.
