THE Baillieu government will send strike breakers into schools on Thursday as 30,000 teachers, principals and support staff walk off the job for better pay and conditions.
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The Education Department has asked former principals and casual relief teachers from agencies to supervise children who show up.
The department confirmed that agency staff would step in to ensure that principals fulfilled their duty of care.
''The department is supporting school principals to fulfil their duty-of-care requirements of ensuring that all students who attend school tomorrow will be safe, cared for and properly supervised. This may include the hiring of agency staff.''
Every public school in the state will be affected by the 24-hour walkout and 172 schools will close, according to the union.
Australian Education Union Victoria president Meredith Peace said the department had pressured principals to turn up or provide the names of casual relief teachers or agencies.
She said the department had phoned retired principals and asked them to supervise students who turn up at school.
''I hope it is related to duty of care,'' Ms Peace said. ''I would like to see the government try to focus its effort on trying to resolve this dispute.''
One former principal, who did not want to be named, received a phone call from the Department of Education last Friday. The caller asked if he was interested in working at a school while teachers went on strike.
''The assumption that I was under was that they wanted me to look after a school on the strike day.''
Shadow minister for the teaching profession Steve Herbert said the government was intervening in a heavy-handed manner.
''These hardline tactics are really unnecessary. This is a new era of industrial relations in our schools, which can only be at the detriment of a harmonious school system. Many would see this as a basic strike-breaking tactic.''
Education Minister Martin Dixon said the strike was disruptive to parents and businesses and 300 schools would close. The union said 172. Mr Dixon said 65 per cent of teaching staff would take part in the strike.
''We have a system that is broken whereby the best teacher in the school is paid the same as the worst teacher,'' he said. ''That's what we need to change and those are the sort of issues we are talking with the union about.''
About 3500 staff from Catholic schools are also expected to strike, although Fair Work Australia has deemed their action unprotected and thus unlawful.
The Victorian Education Department took out advertisements last Saturday telling parents that schools had a duty of care to look after their children during Thursday's strike.
It is the third time Victorian teachers have gone on strike in less than a year.
Striking teachers will meet at Hisense Arena at 10.30am before marching to Parliament.
Teachers have put forward a revised request for a 12.6 per cent pay rise over three years. The union first sought a 30 per cent rise over three years following the Coalition's pre-election promise to make Victorian teachers the best paid in Australia.
The Baillieu government has offered a 2.5 per cent pay rise a year with performance bonuses.
Last week, the Federal Court rejected the state government's legal bid to stop teachers from taking industrial action.
List of schools closing Thursday (as released by the AEU):
Airly PS
Albanvale PS
Albert Park PS
Albion North PS
Albion PS
Aldercourt PS
Allansford & District PS
Altona Meadows PS
Amphitheatre PS
Arthurs Creek PS
Ashby PS
Athol Road PS
Avondale PS
Ballan PS
Baxter PS
Bayswater PS
Beechworth PS
Bell PS
Bethal PS
Bethanga PS
Beverford District PS
Big Hill PS
Boisdale Consolidated
Bolinda PS
Bonbeach PS
Boolarra PS
Box Hill North PS
Briar Hill PS
Broadford PS
Broadmeadows Valley PS
Brunswick North PS
Brunswick North West PS
Brunswick South West PS
Bungaree PS
Burwood East PS
Carlton Gardens PS
Carlton North PS
Chiltern PS
Christmas Hills PS
Clifton Hill PS
Clunes PS
Cohuna Consolidated School
Cohuna SC
Colac PS
Colac Specialist School
Colbinabbin PS
Cudgee PS
Darraweit Guim PS
Darraweit PS
Daylesford SC
Deans Marsh PS
Dinjerra PS
Donald PS
East Doncaster SC
Eastwood PS and Deaf Facility
Epping PS
Ferny Creek PS
Fish Creek PS
Footscray City College
Footscray PS
Foster PS
Girgarre PS
Gladstone Park SC
Glen Huntly PS
Glen Park PS
Glengarry PS
Gordon PS
Greenhills PS
Greenvale PS
Greenvale PS
Grovedale College
Guthridge PS
Hastings Westpark PS
Hawthorn SC
Hazelwood North PS
Ivanhoe East PS
Kaniva College
Katunga PS
Kew High School
Kororoit Creek PS
Kurnai College Morwell Campus
Labertouche PS
Lalor PS
Landsborough PS
Leaps and Bounds SDC
Leongatha SC
Lilydale Heights SC
Lorne Aireys Inlet P-12 College
Mallacoota P12 College
Manchester PS
Mansfield SC
Marong PS
Meredith PS
Merriang SDS
Mirboo North PS
Moe (Elizabeth Street) PS
Montmorency SC
Mooroopna Park PS
Mordialloc Beach PS
Moreland PS
Mount Beauty PS
Mount Evelyn PS
Mount Pleasant Road Nunawading PS
Nagambie PS
Nambrok Denison PS
Nathalia PS
Neerim District SC
Newlands PS
Northcote High School
Northern School for Autism
Osbornes Flat PS
Parkdale SC
Pascoe Vale North PS
Pascoe Vale PS
Poowong Consolidated
Portland North PS
Pyalong PS
Rawson PS
Reservoir District SC
Richmond PS
Richmond West PS
Rosebud PS
Rushworth P-12 College
Ruskin Park PS
Rutherglen PS
San Remo PS
Seymour College
Sherbrooke Community School
Solway PS
South Geelong PS
South Gippsland SC
Southmoor PS
Spotswood PS
St Andrews PS
St Kilda Park PS
Strathewen PS
Sunshine Harvester PS
Sunshine Heights PS
Swan Hill Specialist School
Sydney Road Community School
Tallangatta Valley PS
The Lakes South Morang P-9
The Patch PS
Tongala PS
Tooborac PS
Toolern Vale and District PS
Toora PS
Tooradin PS
Traralgon PS - Kosciuszko Street
Traralgon South PS
Tucker Rd PS
Tylden PS
Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School
Viewbank College
Wantirna PS
Warrandyte HS
Warrnambool East PS
Warrnambool PS
Westall SC
Whitfield District PS
William Ruthven SC
Williamstown PS
Yackandandah PS
Yallourn North PS
Yarra Glen PS
Yarra PS
Yarragon PS
Yea PS
