Teachers, who are NZEI and PPTA union members, are to participate in what is being called a 'mega teacher strike’. Due to the number of teachers striking the Board has decided to close the school on Wednesday 29 May.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you and your family. 

The striking teachers do not get paid for this day and do not take this action lightly. The school fully supports our teachers in their quest for better working conditions and increased remuneration.

There are a few points you may be interested in. Although it is contentious to express political issues publicly, it is annoying to hear politicians and the media put their spin and (non-expert) opinions on the issues affecting education. Discussing some of these issues now is important as the signs are that this strike day may lead to more significant strike action if not addressed. Here are the key points:

• When the Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, was in opposition he talked about how low teacher salaries were and the need for drastic action in education to address retention issues. National is now saying the same thing in opposition, even though they had 9 years to rectify the situation. It seems that thoughts expressed when in opposition do not transfer to ideas when in government.

• The Minister talks about the offer being a $10,000 pay rise. Currently, beginning teachers spend a minimum of 3 years at university and then start on $47,980. This offer gives them 3% straight away which is $1400 p.a. before tax, or about $19 a week. This level of pay is one of the main reasons we have a 40% reduction in people choosing teaching as a career.

• The collective agreement expired in June 2018. The Government is refusing back pay if and when an agreement is reached.

• Experienced teachers stand to get about $27 a week from this offer. Even if they accept this offer, given there will be no back pay, they have already lost in the vicinity of $2000 over the last year through this negotiation. Therefore, if signed today, it would take teachers a year to make up what they have lost.

• The Minister has announced $95 million to attract new teachers. Most of this money goes towards Teach First NZ which is a private trust that puts non-teaching graduates into teaching after an 8-week course followed by two years of on-the-job training. These people are supposedly placed in low decile schools. This does not help with our urgent shortage of teachers, it does not attract teachers back to the profession, nor does it solve the problem of teachers who resign within the first 5 years of teaching because of workload. All Auckland schools (Stanley Bay is no exception) are struggling to find qualified teachers and, instead, often using relievers and place them in long-term positions until the right teacher turns up.  Our children deserve consistency.

We know that there are lots of people choosing to leave teaching or not entering the profession because of the workload, stress and lack of support. Please speak to a teacher or their family to find out what teachers really do. It is so far from the ‘9–3 workday with lots of holidays’ rhetoric that is put out as truth by some people.  We need to change the conditions to make teaching a more attractive profession for the long term. 

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