speeches from protest - Friday 7 March

Claudia Tascone: St Monica's, Moonee Ponds

Good morning and thank you.

I am here today because I love my job. I am in my second year of teaching, and absolutely loving every minute of it.

I love walking into school every morning, knowing that by the end of the day, I will have made a positive impact on a child’s life.

A couple of years ago, I was at a teacher’s seminar with some experienced teachers who were asked to tell us why they love teaching. And I will never forget what one teacher said that day.She said that is was ‘the buzz you get when a student finally clicks and gets it’” And to me, that’s so true. Everyday, we walk into our classrooms. And as teachers, we are so committed to our job that we will persist in the face of challenge, so that every child can reach their potential, no matter how long it takes!

This is what makes teaching so enjoyable and I want to be able to look into my future and see myself teaching for many more years to come.

Unfortunately our passion can sometimes work against us. Someone once said to me that ‘teachers are just too nice’. We always take on extra curriculum requirements and attend unpaid out of hour’s activities. And we do this because we are a very unique group of professionals. We value our profession so much and we selflessly commit to ourselves to our jobs.

In my last two years in the profession I have been so inspired to watch all of my colleagues dedicate themselves to their job. They juggle their time so well devote so much time into their work.

Many people don’t actually know what is involved in being a teacher. There are so many things we do behind the scenes that people have no idea about. We can’t lock the that door behind us at 3:30 and go home. No, instead we rush off to afterschool staff meetings 2-3 times per week. We work through our lunch and tea breaks.. doing yard duties, photocopying, phoning parents, putting up displays, the list goes on. Then we are expected to attend out of school hour activities such as : Family Interviews, School camps, School Fetes, and Family Masses. All unpaid, but we have to do it.Our workload is constantly increasing but our salaries aren’t.

I want to teach for the rest of my working life. However, I am afraid that in the future as my life changes, my Victorian teacher’s income is not going to be a sufficient source of income.

I don’t want to leave teaching, but like other young teachers, we may feel forced to seek a better paying professional in the future. Something needs to be done about this. Our pays need to meet the pays of other teachers in Australia!

Many of my friends that I studied with at University have already chosen other career paths or moved overseas and interstate. They seek better pay and refuse to teach here in Victoria because of the huge difference in pay. Teachers in Victoria do the same kind of job as those interstate, so why do we get paid less? We wonder why there is a shortage of teachers in Victoria… its because they’re all boarding planes at Melbourne Airport, going interstate to earn better money!

As a teacher who is new to the profession, I want to see change. Positive change! Before I entered the teaching profession, I never really knew how much less we Victorian teachers were paid. I can’t believe that government would even contemplate not giving us equal pay as our neighbours, it just doesn’t make sense! I want Victorian teachers to be recognised for their all important role of educating our future generations. Teachers are professionals and we deserve recognition for our extremely important role in society.

I’m here today because I love my profession and I believe that we are worth fighting for. I feel so proud to look around the room today and know that I am amongst the best and most dedicated professionals in Victoria.Today we will teach the Government a lesson! We're not going to stand back and take what is given to us. We are worth a lot more than 3.25%. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP UNTIL WE ARE RECOGNISED FOR THE WONDERFUL PROFESSIONALS THAT WE ARE!