31 August 2010

“The strike action secondary teachers are taking on 15 September is as much about frustration with the Ministry of Education’s lack of engagement as anything else,” says PPTA president Kate Gainsford.

She said the government had failed to acknowledge a number of concerns secondary teachers have about the quality of public education in their current collective agreement negotiations.

“Three months of negotiations have yielded almost nothing in the way of constructive engagement. No wonder teachers are angry.”

“The claim teachers have lodged consists of a range of possible solutions to concerns shared across the sector and the community. The government should be as concerned as everyone else about recruitment and retention and teachers’ unmanageable workloads – but they’ve showed us scant evidence they care,” she said.

August 30, 2010   

At paid union meetings last week secondary teachers voted overwhelmingly to:

• reject the Ministry of Education’s latest pay offer (99.3%);
• support an addition to the secondary teachers’ collective agreement (STCA) claim to prevent employers applying the 90-day fire-at-will provisions heralded in upcoming legislation (90.9%);
• approve the following actions in the absence of a fair and reasonable offer:

• a range of protest actions in Term 3;
• a one day strike; and
• further protest and industrial action in Term 4 if no settlement has been achieved (95.1%).

“The meetings were notable for the high degree of unity and determination among teachers,” said PPTA President, Kate Gainsford.

‘If you think education is expensive, try ignorance’ – never has that observation been more relevant.
The country – along with much of the world – is being pounded by the economic crisis. Unemployment is rising while everyone agrees we need more qualified school leavers.

...Their plight belongs to all of us, for it will certainly cost us all.

We have a government that has talked up its intention to invest in infrastructure. Surely, for a nation proud of its achievements and ambitious for its future, that begins with intellectual infrastructure?

Other countries are already upping their investment in public education. They have recognised that, when times are tough, priming the knowledge pump reaps returns. The head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, noted in January 2010 that “investment in education in stimulus packages will have much more effect than tax cuts.”

Much of this education investment around the world has been directed at teaching; quality learning is, after all, an outcome of quality teaching.

Attracting and retaining the teachers we need comes down to how much we’re willing to pay. Right now, New Zealand teachers have one of the lowest starting salaries in the developed world, yet they work some of the longest hours. After 15 years’ experience, a New Zealand secondary teacher’s salary is 17% lower than the OECD average.

The PPTA is asking for a 4% salary increase. Comparatively, that’s moderate. The teachers of Queensland and South Australia have just been awarded double digit percentage pay rises.

The Australians think their children are worth the investment. They know that ignorance isn’t bliss… more likely a nightmare.

Are we to move forward with our neighbours, or slip even further behind?