The Systemic Implications of Housing Affordability for the Teacher Shortage: the Case of New South Wales, Australia

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  • Author(s): Scott Eacott (ORCID Scott Eacott (ORCID 0000-0002-5612-5887)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Australian Educational Researcher. 2024 51(2):733-755.
  • Publication Date:
    2024
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Research
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      23
    • Subject Terms:
    • Subject Terms:
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s13384-023-00621-z
    • ISSN:
      0311-6999
      2210-5328
    • Abstract:
      Legal attendance requirements and national declarations establish a social contract between the State and its citizens for the provision of schooling. Any shortage of teachers compromises the ability of the State to meet its contractable obligations. The sovereignty of the social contract is complex as no single body has ultimate responsibility for housing the teaching workforce, but everyone has a stake in it. Empirically focused on the largest school system in the southern hemisphere, the New South Wales public education system (Australia), this paper demonstrates that 90.8% of teaching positions, over 50,000 full-time equivalent posts, are in Local Government Areas where the median rent and house sales price are severely unaffordable on a top-of-the-scale teacher salary. With the system requiring additional teachers to meet increasing enrolments, and housing costs outstripping salaries, many schools not traditionally considered difficult to staff are becoming, if not already, inaccessible for teachers.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2024
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1417416