DEAR News Of The Area,

I AM responding to the report on teachers (‘Upper House Committee on Teacher Shortages Seeks Submissions’ p9, Coffs Coast News of the Area, 24 June Edition) and the banter between the NSW State Government, the inquiry led by Mark Latham and the response by the NSW Teachers Federation, of which I was a member for over 20 years.

No one ever seems to investigate workplace ‘climate and culture’, and yet, it’s often the single biggest reason why people leave jobs.

I resigned from a permanent position in a NSW Public Secondary School last year.

I was happy with my salary of $108,000 pa and didn’t begrudge an average working week of 64 hours because most teachers get to recover in the school holidays.

I must add that I was involved in a number of additional roles apart from my subject teaching.

I’ve worked in a number of schools and gained significant experience and insights into teaching and learning.

What seems to be missing in most of the investigations for teacher shortages is ‘Why do people leave a well paid job with security and salary benefits?’.

It is not always due to workload.

A lot of teachers would agree to my position on this.

Regards,
Catherine MCINTYRE,
Boambee.