© Rafael Ben-Ari - stock.adobe.com
<h2><span data-contrast="auto">The Ministry of Education is facing industrial and legal action from teaching unions, as well as pressure from education leaders ahead of the election next year. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">As collective agreement negotiations begin, and fast-paced curriculum changes are taking effect, tensions are rising between the sector and the government. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/latest-print-issue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><b>Read the latest print edition of <em>School News</em> online HERE.</b></a></p>
<h3><b><span data-contrast="auto">Collective agreement negotiations off to a rough start</span></b><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></h3>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Recently, PPTA Te Wehengarua rejected one of the lowest ever pay offers made to secondary teachers of a one percent pay rise per year. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The offer comes after the Public Service Commissioner, Sir Brian Roche, announced he would take the responsibility of collective agreement negotiations. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;The economic environment and the government&#8217;s fiscal position are very difficult. Every additional dollar spent must be weighed against what is sustainable and fair to all New Zealanders,” said Roche</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;I am open to continued dialogue and am committed to reaching a settlement that supports teachers, students, and our public school system.&#8221;</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">PPTA President Chris Abercrombie said he wanted a pay offer that reflected teachers’ skills. Additionally, there was no response to pastoral care allowances, PLD funding or management unit and allowances increases. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“The Government’s initial offer in no way addresses the core issues of teacher recruitment and retention and unmet student need, and has been rejected by our national executive.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The offer was not put to members, but voted down by the national executive. The union would consult members over the next week. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_26055" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26055" style="width: 455px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-26055 " src="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AdobeStock_340653748-1-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" width="455" height="303" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-26055" class="wp-caption-text">©Panumas- stock.adobe.com</figcaption></figure>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“To receive an initial offer such as this is insulting and frustrating. The feedback I’m already getting from teachers is that they feel very under valued. They are doing amazing work in the midst of relentless curriculum and assessment change, and are managing increasingly complex needs of students.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Education Minister Erica Stanford said she was disappointed the offer wasn’t put to members. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“It wasn&#8217;t unexpected because they don&#8217;t often make that first offer available to their members. I thought it was a reasonable offer. It should have been put to the members, and it was disappointing that it wasn&#8217;t.&#8221;</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Meanwhile, teacher aides and school support staff represented by the NZEI Te Riu Roa have rejected their latest offer. It is the third from the Ministry of Education, which amounted to a four percent raise over three years for the lowest paid support staff, and 1.7 percent for the highest paid.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">It falls short of the 10 percent over three years NZEI Te Riu Roa was seeking. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Representative Ally Kingi said members were angry about the offer, especially following the loss of the pay equity scheme, but had yet to decide next steps. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a feeling of a workforce that&#8217;s felt under-valued and then through winning our pay equity claims we had that real feeling of our work being seen and valued and felt really great. And then sort of to have sunk back down again, people aren&#8217;t prepared to do that,&#8221; she said.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;It&#8217;s hitting all of us in the backpocket&#8230; most people work just school hours or part of that time because we know schools aren&#8217;t funded properly to employ us or to support the children that need supporting.&#8221;</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_27433" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27433" style="width: 492px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-27433 " src="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AdobeStock_236749431-1024x683.jpeg" alt="" width="492" height="328" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-27433" class="wp-caption-text">Support staff are striking. © andreaobzerova AdobeStock</figcaption></figure>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">At the same time, specialist staff who work in the field, such as speech language therapists, early intervention teachers and occupational therapists have taken industrial action over their collective offer.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Around 2300 staff, represented by NZEI Te Riu Roa and the PSA have been suspended, and the Ministry has asked for an urgent mediation.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<h3><b><span data-contrast="auto">Legal action over resource teacher cuts</span></b><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></h3>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">NZEI Te Riu Roa is also taking the Ministry of Education to court over the cuts to funding for resource teachers, filing for a judicial review in late July. The union claims the Ministry had decided to cut the service before asking the sector for consultation. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">A judicial review looks at the way a decision was made, ensuring that the relevant decision-maker acted within legal powers and followed due process. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">President Ripeka Lessels, a former resource teacher of Māori said:</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“I look forward to seeing whether the court believes the consultation with these teachers was fair and genuine, whether the decision was pre-determined, and whether the Government has upheld its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“I find it very hard to understand why you would cut the numbers of frontline Māori education roles or specialist literacy roles when the Government says it is prioritising literacy.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The union adds that under Budget 2025, overall numbers of Māori education workforce will drop by 31 full-time equivalent roles, and overall literacy support workforce will be reduced by 43 FTE roles.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<h3><b><span data-contrast="auto">Clashes over curriculum changes </span></b><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></h3>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Newly leaked MoE documents show that the Ministry of Education did not have clear internal definitions for key terms at times during the curriculum rewrites. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Sector leaders have since spoken out against the fast-pace of change. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Leanne Otene, President of the Principals’ Federation called the changes chaotic. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;We&#8217;ve had multiple announcements, and they&#8217;re disconnected initiatives and they are creating chaos,” said Otene. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Insufficient training and a lack of assessment tools tailored to the new curriculums were other issuses, she said. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<h3><b><span data-contrast="auto">Record teacher number increase</span></b> <span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></h3>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Despite the ongoing clashes between the education sector and the government, there has been an increase in teacher numbers – the largest since 2009, when records began. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;Every region has more teachers than it did a year ago, with particularly strong increases in South and West Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Canterbury. That&#8217;s a clear sign our reform of the education system is giving people the confidence to choose teaching as a career,” said Stanford. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Students in initial teacher education had also increased 27 percent compared to last year. Stanford attributed the increase to the governments’ reforms. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;It&#8217;s what we&#8217;re creating, and people want to be a part of this, and I know that teachers are appreciating all of the resource and the professional learning and development and the brand new curriculum and all of the resources that we&#8217;re putting into the sector,&#8221; she said.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">&#8220;We for example last year funded teacher certification and fees, and that brought back about 500 teachers back into the sector alone; we&#8217;ve created more on-site training places, we&#8217;ve got scholarships, there&#8217;s all sorts of things.&#8221;</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span></p>

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