Tauranga principal's disappointment at teacher pay announcement

Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh says the school's calls for help have fallen on deaf ears. Photo / File

A Tauranga principal says her school's cries for help have fallen on deaf ears with no extra funding for special needs in the Ministry of Education's new pay offer.

The Ministry of Education offered a flat 3 per cent pay rise each year for the next three years across the pay scale, giving all teachers a cumulative 9.3 per cent pay rise by 2020.

However, the revised offer for primary teachers did not include support for children with additional learning needs.

Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh said the announcement was disappointing, especially when money was being spent in other places she felt were less of a priority.

The school met with Ministry of Education experts almost four months ago seeking changes to the funding model to benefit its pupils with special needs.

Mackintosh said the school requested funding towards a sensory and therapy room but discussions had since fallen flat.

"Nothing has happened. It is a bit like banging our heads against a concrete wall, but we just keep on keeping on. It's almost like there is a deaf ear."

The principal acknowledged any increase to the previous offer was positive, however, she said the new offer was far from the 16 per cent pay rise the New Zealand Educational Institute had asked for.

Tauranga Special School assistant principal and NZEI Tauranga branch lobbyist Andrea Andresen said the pay rise for experienced teachers needed to be implemented sooner than 2020.

She said many teachers in their late 40s, 50s and 60s were leaving the profession and the pay rise for experienced teachers was not enough to entice them to stay.

Andresen said the exclusion of extra support for Special Education Needs Co-ordinators was "disheartening", but was pleased to hear Tauranga MPs were visiting schools to hear teachers' concerns.

Otumoetai Primary deputy principal Zara McIndoe said the lack of funding for Special Education Needs Co-ordinators would prove difficult for schools.

McIndoe, who has been a Special Education Needs Co-ordinator for nine years, said a huge amount of time needed to be put into the role and without the staffing, it put pressure on other personnel.

Primary teachers and principals will hold secret online ballots next week to vote on whether to accept the offers.

Ministry of Education secretary of education Iona Holstead said it was not appropriate to comment further as NZEI was considering the revised offer.

"The pay offer does not directly address workload and recruitment and learning support, because there is work under way on addressing these issues as part of government policy," she said.

That included more than $270 million in additional funding for learning support announced in Budget 2018.

WHAT ARE THE TEACHER SALARY INCREASES?
• Teachers will receive a 3 per cent pay increase to their base salaries each year for the next three years, a cumulative increase of 9.3 per cent over three years.
• The cost of the ministry's offer for teachers and principals is $569 million over four years.
Source: Ministry of Education