Today, Deputy Premier and Education Minister Gabrielle Williams announced that over 250 schools will benefit from a new central water and sanitation program.
Labor's independent review of administrative burdens on teachers will save them over 175,000 hours of teacher time each year.
This is just another way Labor is backing teachers - on top of giving them the best pay and conditions.
Currently, not every school in rural and regional Victoria has access to public water or sewer mains.
That means teachers and principals have been doing time-consuming administrative work - until now.
Schools will no longer be responsible for making sure their water systems are maintained.
This includes works like testing and treating drinking water and desludging wastewater management systems.
Instead, it will be managed centrally by the Victorian School Building Authority.
It means drinking water will be safer, with the program set to be fully implemented by 2028.
Labor is also supporting regional small businesses with local plumbers to be used wherever possible.
This gives regional teachers and principals more time to do what they love - teaching kids.
Country teachers show up every day for kids in regional Victoria, and they deserve a pay rise that values their work.
That's why Labor is making them the best paid in Australia, along with the best conditions.
Liberal leader Jess Wilson and Nationals Leader Danny O'Brien are promising to slash investment in regional schools.
When Jess Wilson's Liberals were last in government, they cut $1 billion from education.
Regional Victorians don't need brutal Liberal cuts - and only Labor is fighting for working families.
As stated by Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Gabrielle Williams
"Teachers and principals shouldn't be at a disadvantage because they're in regional Victoria - and this reform means they have more time to do what they love, teaching kids."
"While Labor is making life easier for teachers and principals at over 250 regional schools, the Liberals and Nationals want to slash funding for regional education."
As stated by Minister for Rural and Regional Development and Minister for Water Michaela Settle
"Every Victorian deserves to know the water coming out of their tap is safe. This program is strengthening the protections around drinking water and giving communities greater certainty that their water is safer."
"We're taking this responsibility off school staff so they can get on with what they do best, while making sure these essential systems are properly maintained and reliable."
