I agree with Shadow minister- it would certainly be beneficial if current school staff could choose their new teachers, rather than the education department forcing whomever they like onto the hapless schools!

It would certainly be a disaster if parents were allowed to choose their kid's new teachers.
I can see it now-
all the dads would choose young and curvy, buxom blonde female teachers for their kids, while all the mums would go for the hot, charming and
well built young male teachers! :)

The best qualified to select the teachers are the headmasters with reference to the board.

Others including the teacher's union and the government have other conflicting agendas.

You are assuming a lot here Shadow Minister.

I am sure you subscribe to 'managements right to manage', along with all the others who decry the skills of 'teachers'.

What I've noticed is that no one ever thinks to question the parlous state of school management.

The head of each state school is the school principal.

In Qld, even the minister defers to their power within the school campus.

They are 'in control' now.

And that, I suspect, is more than half the problem with our schools.

Poor, sometimes very poor, school principals.

There is no way in this world that I'd trust them with the task of selecting any staff.

Our high school principal bullies the good staff to retire, transfer, and promotes the brown noses and meek to positions well beyond their capacity.

A formula well known to the Tory, and vote seeking politicians, and journalists from the Oz who trumpet such systems as 'best practice'.

What's this, no energy for edumacation you lot?

How's this for a story:
http://www.truth-out.org/got-dough-public-school-reform-age-venture-philanthropy66598

Compared to the Drongo Right:
http://australianconservative.com/2010/12/the-ruddgillard-education-revolution-an-evaluation/?utm_source=Australian+Conservative&utm_campaign=86bbbf6e55-110107_Newsletter&utm_medium=email

It's worth reading both if anyone is interested in about 20 mins work.

The following may also give a further insight into this discussion:

http://www.andrewbarr.com.au/story/national-curriculum-good-students-good-teachers-good-australia

Err, Barr is yet another Empty Vessel posing as an education expert.

He tolerates Scripture Union running Hillsong Shine in his schools, and backed down when challenged by the ACL mob.

His media release was empty vacuous crap, that contributed nothing whatsoever to improving schools.

Given the population we have, there's not a big percentage that move schools each year.

Then one positive move that is needed but will not be made, is to ensure that at least the public schools are required to teach within a secular framework, no ID- creationism taught as it is in Qld, no 'bible lessons' at the whim of the principal, as in Qld, no coercion into any religion via RI/SRI/SRE/RE, and of course, no room for any religion to place 'chaplains' into public schools.

Barr, and all the others, will run a marathon, never mind a mile, before acting intelligently on this.