CathNews - a Service of Church Resources

Have Your Say 

Recent Comments

1. "The labourer is worthy of his hire" - Sorry what a load of egotistical rubbish. He should read Jane Caro in today's SMH.
   Like nurses, teachers are the most expoited profession simply because the economy would go broke if it paid them what they are really worth.

   Posted By: Paul Mc

2. I must agree with the article wholeheartedly. I have at least three siblings who all teach in the Catholic system; none of them would go on strike. They have told stories of colleagues who would strike and that they are usually the lefty type non believers who whinge and whine over everything. Why we have to have these types brainwashing our children is beyond me. The so called unfair dismissal laws stop Principals from removing these types. Pity about that. On the brighter side, I do see the amount of work the committed teachers do. After hours marking, camps, parent teacher nights, religious ceremonies on weekends etc and it is a credit to their dedication and professionalism. Again it is usually the lefty type that refuse to be involved in those activities. Maybe they should leave the Catholic system and teach in the State Schools where they can be right at home. At least one of my siblings tops up his income during the holidays with a 2nd job and no owns a growing number of Investment properties along with a large modern home. Not bad for 'lowly paid school teacher'. He would never complain about his lot.

   Posted By: David

3. One emphasis lost in this article is justice for teachers' salaries. It is sad that they need to strike in order to receive equal pay with other teachers. The teachers are standing up for equality, one of the values of Jesus Christ whom they follow. They are to be commended not condemned.

   Posted By: Nance Cale rsm

4. I suppose if Catholic school teachers didn't want to be paid for their teaching services they should all have joined a religious order.

   Posted By: Jane harding

5. You can certainly tell he's not married to a teacher.

   Posted By: Michael

6. The author comes from Victoria - the highest paid teachers in the country!
   Queensland teachers were striking because they are the second lowest paid teaches in Australia. I don't think any of the teachers, I know who striked, are lazy layabouts. Most, if not all, work, way beyond the boundaries of their 'duty statement'. Strikes are certainly a last resort, but perhaps in this case it was deemed necessary.
   

   Posted By: Cathy Ransom

7. Perhaps those who went on strike have a longer term view than Mr Bantick. If conditions and pay continue on their current downward spiral, there won't be any teachers in the near future or, perhaps worse, the quality of teachers will be so poor that there won't be any point in sending children to school. Then it will indeed be the parents and students who suffer, as well as the rest of society.

   Posted By: fred

8. If we still had religious orders to teach at our schools we would not have this predicament.
   I call and pray for new congregations and people to devote themselves to teaching.
   This will avoid "Catholic by name only" teachers who neglect the spiritual formation of thier students

   Posted By: Boanerges

9. The author cruelled his pitch with his name-calling at the end: "... freeloaders, phonies, self-centred strikers and white-collar wannabes with blue-collar values who are not fit to be in a classroom". Talk about a dummy-spit!
   I started teaching 45 years ago. Most of my career since then has been in positions outside the classroom, but I did take industrial action a couple of times at the (state teachers') union's call in my early years. I don't recollect any irresponsibility on my part or that of my colleagues when we did this. I certainly grieved for the money that was foregone in stop-work action.
   Yes, teachers in Catholic schools should be "covenant" people, not subscribers to an "industrial" model. But a covenant implies trust and care on the part of the employer. And the employee is responsible to his or her own family as well as other people's children. I don't know why Catholic teachers' salaries have fallen behind in Queensland, but if they have, then employers should be acting very quickly to bring them into line. The teachers depend on their employers for fair treatment.
   Strike action should never be necessary in a covenant community and that is what Catholic education should be.

   Posted By: Poppenhauer

10. The article about teachers being self- centered is ludicrous, to say the least. A professional rate of pay for Queensland teachers is required to keep the best teachers here. Teachers in other states receive significantly higher salaries and the diatribe should be directed at those employing authorities who REFUSE to negotiate the salary question.

    Posted By: John Hawthorne

11. Just how much hubris does it take to make such a broad-sweeping statement as, "There is no reason to strike, ever, over pay and conditions"? Christopher Bantick has demonstrated either a distinct lack of awareness of the Catholic Church's longstanding position on the place and legitimacy of unions (and in some circumstances, industrial action), or a breathtaking arrogance that leads him to believe employees should always be simperingly grateful for any scrap that falls from the employer's table.
    I don't know the details of the particular strike action in question - maybe it is unjustified in this instance. But if that is the case, Mr Bantick would do well to address the specific issues in play, rather than pontificate from his far right corner about the presumptuousness of workers who dare to seek justice in the workplace.

    Posted By: Fr Andrew Chase

12. Stick the boot into teachers, eh? When I left the profession about 10 years ago, my State had the highest-paid teachers in Australia. I worked out that I was getting paid less than some of my year 12 students per hour and was expected to fulfill the role of parent, counselor, and teacher.
    Paying teachers appropriately and ensuring good conditions is looking after children.
    @David: Having taught in both State and catholic schools I find your comments, erroneous and bigoted.

    Posted By: Sean the Blogonaut

13. I was saddened to read Mr Bantick's comments and fear other people may share his views on what is a fine and dedicated profession.
    I was a dedicated teacher who gave up my time to coach sport, be involved in debating, the school play, free tutoring etc.
    I no longer teach because my wife wanted to bring up our children at home when they were young and a single salary made buying a house etc too hard.
    Other employers valued my Honours and Masters Degrees and were keen to pay me significantly more in private industry.
    Pay teachers a "professional rate" and lets have the very best in our classrooms rather than the current salary of just over $50,000 for a teacher who has spent four years studying for a degree.
    It is unfortunate that the Queensland Government has determined that teachers in Queensland will be the lowest paid in Australia and that to try to achieve the salary Mr Bantick enjoys in Victoria they have had to take industrial action
    
    

    Posted By: chris

14. Catholic schools n Australia have lost their way. They don’t teach the Catholic faith.
    Why have them anymore? We need schools that teach and live their Catholic faith – these ones do not.
    Close down or sell these other schools – take Catholic out of their titles.
    Set up fewer (even one or two) real catholic schools that have real catholic teachers who practice their faith and have them teach it – not the terrible dumbed down version they let non-practicing teachers use in schools. It would be better to have two real catholic schools in Brisbane than twenty pseudo-Catholic schools.
    

    Posted By: Fritz Lieber

15. You can't help wondering why such a committed teacher as Christopher Bantick left the teaching profession to go to such a scurrilous profession as journalism. Maybe he didn't have the ticker for the classroom or the ability to recognise injustice.

    Posted By: Laurie Sheehan

16. These comments by Christopher Bantick are so extreme that they cannot be taken seriously. He appears not to recognise that Australian teachers have been underpaid for decades compared with other professionals who serve the community.
    Yes, we all know that there are lazy and incompetent people in every walk of life. But wage injustices cry out to the Heavens. Putting children first does not mean that teachers, or any other professional body, should have to live with salaries that make it extremely hard, in today's world, for intact families with only one salaried parent to survive.

    Posted By: Dr Susan Reibel Moore

• » Advertise in CathNews

Email to Friend Please fill out the following details (fields marked with a * are mandatory):
Send To Email Address*:
Send To Name *:
Sent By Email Address*:
Sent By Name *:
Text to include in email:
Captcha validation:	please enter the code above:

^ Page Top

Comment on this article

More from this section

1. Feature - As long as his mother's hand

   My grandson Peter died on Thursday July 26, the Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He was sixteen weeks old, a perfect little boy. He was as long as his mother's hand, and died as soon as he was born. I am dating his life, of course, from his conception. - Marist Messenger

2. Feature - Lifelong devotion and love

   As a young child witnessing bombs dropping around him in his hometown of Prague in Czechoslovakia, Joseph Pertl dreamt of becoming a priest and devoting his life to God and helping others. - Lindy McNamara, The Southern Cross

3. Feature - Paul points the way

   Recently I have been reading Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. As we reread the Scriptures, they always seem to have a newness and freshness about them that one hasn't noticed before. That has been the case with my recent reading of Paul. The Corinthian Church, founded by Paul, had turned to him for advice on some local issues. His responses to these local issues are relevant to how we should approach contemporary issues today. - Bishop David Walker, Broken Bay News

4. Feature - New generation neither Catholic "lite" nor Catholic "Taliban"

   This new generation seems ideally positioned to address the lamentable tendency to drive a wedge between the Church's pro-life message and its peace and justice commitments. They can help us find the sane middle between two extremes: What George Weigel correctly calls "Catholicism lite," meaning a form of the faith sold out to secularism; and what I've termed "Taliban Catholicism," meaning an angry expression of Catholicism that knows only how to excoriate and condemn. - John L. Allen Jr, National Catholic Reporter

5. Feature - Solving the crisis in America's Catholic schools

   Today Catholic schools serve about 2.2 million students, roughly half the 1965 peak year total. There are still nearly 7,250 Catholic schools, but since 1990 over 1,300 have closed and some 300,000 pupils have been displaced. The decline is concentrated in urban communities that now are home mainly to low income, non-Catholic, minority families. - John J. DiIulio Jr, America