'Appalling': Shadow state education minister slams sudden cancellation of teaching program 05:02

Sarah Mitchell, she's the Shadow New South Wales Education Minister. She was the one who came up with this program. Sarah, what do you make of this?

Chris, I'm just sitting here shaking my head listening to what James is saying. I cannot believe that there is nobody within the Education Department, the Minister's Office or even the Minister who wouldn't pick up the phone to these people and, like you say, apologise, explain to them what's going on. To get a Monday morning email that a really successful program that recognises our best and brightest teachers has just been axed, it's appalling. Yeah.

Do you reckon the union's got their hands on this? Because they don't like meritocracies, the union. They just like whoever's on the shelf.

Yeah, look, I think you're 100% right. You know, any time that we in government tried to do anything like this, whether it was Faststream, paying your best teachers more, looking at opportunities for people to excel, they were always dead against it. So I suspect that that's the case. But, you know, what I'm concerned about, where is the minister? Why didn't she make an announcement on Monday and say, we're not doing this program and tell these teachers why? You know, you wonder why people get disheartened or disengaged with the public education system. Well, here's the reason why.

You couldn't blame teachers like James for just going, you know what, maybe either teaching's not for me or I'll go somewhere where I'm treated properly, like the Catholic system or the independent system.

Yeah, I mean, and he just said that. That's already a conversation across his... You couldn't blame him, could you? No, not at all. And the reality is we all know we need great teachers in the system. But I'd also say someone who lives in a regional area, my kids go to our local public school. This was a program that, as you said, put some of the best teachers into our regional schools as well and gave them that exposure and...

gave them a fast track to school leadership. It was always well over subscription. So a lot of teachers really wanted this opportunity to do it in the couple of years that it was running. And now it's just axed. And, you know, to say it's because of budgetary decisions, well, governments of the day make decisions about what they fund and what they value. And I think this sends a really poor message out to any teachers who have aspirations for leadership or who want to do something a bit more innovative. This government's not interested in anything like that. It's all about what the union are telling them to do.

And I did notice the other day, you know, they just ripped up a $39 million contract to build schools. They've received no schools from that contract yet paid out $5 million in

in compensation for nothing the taxpayer got nothing for that they refer allegations of corruption to icac and the individual at the center of those gets a five hundred thousand dollar payout as part of a restructuring deal and someone told me the other day sarah and i don't know if you agree with this statement but you probably do but the minns government seemed to know the value the the the cost of everything and the value of nothing and this seems case in point

Yeah, absolutely. I don't think it's been a good week for Prukar and education, and I think they've got a lot to answer for, frankly. I did say Prukar said, you know, she said, oh, it's not good enough and all the rest of it. You've been in that minister's chair. You know what it's like. She would have been aware of this, no? Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely. And, you know, either she's signed off on it or someone in her department has. And either way, there should be a recognition that this is not just the stroke of a pen of a minister. As we heard from James, people's lives are impacted, their families are impacted, they've made decisions.

and they should be accountable and honest and open about that. They should be announcing why they've cut this program and having the decency to talk to these people as individuals, as you say, as human beings, and explain what's going on. Just before I let you go, Sarah, when you tried to introduce the Fast Stream program, was it met with any pushback from the Teachers' Federation at the time?

Oh, look, Chris, everything we did, frankly, was met with pushback from the Teachers' Federation. They didn't like this. We had a rewarding excellence program, which was about paying your best teachers more in the classroom as well. They didn't like that. They want tenure, not talent. That's always been the way that they are, and I don't think anything's different. Sarah, appreciate your time. Thanks, Chris. That's Sarah Mitchell, Shadow New South Wales Education Minister. Now, just for the record, this is a quote from the Education Minister, Pru Karr.

We want the best and brightest teachers in front of our students and my government recognises the sacrifices some have made to participate in programs such as this one. I've instructed the department to call every teacher and work with them to ensure they can continue their careers in our schools as leaders. We can't afford to lose good teachers. Well, then don't shut the program, Minister. No justification as to why it's being shut, mind you.

And here's a spokesperson from the Department of Education. For those participants who move to more remote areas, we will work with them on a case-by-case basis. Participants remain permanent employees of the department and will continue to receive support and advice from the School Leadership Institute during this process.

Murat Dizdar, remember that name. He is the Secretary of the NSW Department of Education. He largely acts with impunity and clearly in this instance he treats people appallingly.