Ms TRISH DOYLE (Blue Mountains) (20:00): Recently I made a submission on behalf of the Blue Mountains to the New South Wales Parliament inquiry into teacher shortages. I began that submission reminiscing about how in 1991 when I emerged from university I was so incredibly excited to be entering such a noble profession as teaching. However, it was in the final decade of my near 30-year teaching career that things in the education sector started to shift. I was aware of my own diminishing faith in a system that seemed to be increasingly about outcomes that had very little to do with the wellbeing of either staff or students and all about what looked good on paper—ticking boxes and reporting constantly, an administrative overload.

Those same teachers that had shared my eagerness for the job were feeling it too, as collectively we struggled with changes to our profession that saw an unsurmountable increase in the demands placed on our roles. Greater accountability, greater responsibility, pushing workloads, the casualisation of the workforce and an escalation in administrative requirements all amounted to a decline in the reason we got into the job in the first place, which was to focus on our students and to teach. Sadly, under years of a neglectful government that preferred to over-fund private schools rather than invest in accessible-to-all public education, that trend has not only sustained but also magnified exponentially.

The feedback I receive consistently is that teachers are exhausted. They are fed up. They feel devalued and undermined. Good teachers are being lost and there is a failure to attract new ones to the profession. One high school in my electorate reported to me that over a 2½-term period, 359 of its senior classes were on minimum supervision. That means 359 senior classes were without a teacher. Think about that for a minute. That is one of the many dire repercussions of the teacher shortage crisis. I will read an excerpt from a heart-wrenching letter I received from a teacher in August this year. It states:

Public schools are on the verge of genuine crisis. It is not just a Sydney Morning Herald headline … Morale is the worst I have seen it.

There are daily disruptions to teaching and learning programs as a direct result of teacher shortages.

Our schools are falling apart, the backlog of maintenance is enormous.

I am drowning under compliance paperwork.

The expectation on schools is ever increasing. The number of special needs students have increased significantly in recent years without the equivalent increase in funding and staffing levels to support these students. Staff expertise to support these students is critical yet supply of staff with those skill sets are limited and declining.

Are our public school kids worth less than endless infrastructure and pork barrel projects? Are they worth less than tunnels, toll roads, stadiums, museum relocations and carparks. They will not save our country from increasing class division and decreasing socio‑economic mobility.

I need to remain anonymous as the Department of Education code of conduct is a weapon to silence well-founded criticism from within. Trish, I am considering resigning within the next 12 months after a 30 year career of services to the kids of the west. I have found years of joy working in public schools ... but can no longer tolerate the frustrations of a failing organisation.

They are strong words straight from the heart and straight from the front line.

I have heard over and again that student behaviour, attitude and overall resilience is lessening, whilst vandalism, violence and social issues are on the rise. Make no mistake, this State is in the midst of an education crisis and the choice now is recovery or continued decline. As a former teacher, I still care deeply about what is happening in the education sector. I will continue to advocate for my local schools and the teaching profession more broadly for increased pay and improved working conditions; for upgrades to essential infrastructure; and for the critical need for an adequate, ongoing supply of teachers. There is no quick fix for a sector that has essentially been left to rot, but it is my hope that the voices of our teachers, our students and our parents will ultimately be heard.

I yearn to see a restoration of respect for our remarkable educators and to see them valued and given a seat at the table whenever there is a discussion or decision being made about the profession that they understand so expertly and intimately. But that will not just occur; it requires first an acknowledgment of the failings of the current system and then a real commitment now from this current Government to make public education a priority. Education is a powerful tool for breaking the cycle of poverty, for supporting a child's development and wellbeing and for closing the gap in social inequality. We need our teachers, and we need to take care of them. I extend my deep gratitude to all teachers who have spoken to me about their despair, the Independent Education Union, the Teachers Federation and TAFE Teachers Association.