Manurewa teacher aide Mina Tamatoa is delighted to see higher teacher aide funding in the Budget - and resigned that it will take a few years to come through.
"Things can't happen overnight, especially when there's a government change. You've just got to be patient," she said.
Tamatoa earns $16.68 an hour - just 18c above the minimum wage - as a teacher aide at Rowandale School, where three of her four children are students.
Anne Mackintosh, principal at Tauranga's Greerton Village School which faces a $118,000 deficit because the state funding for teacher aides is less than the actual pay rates, said the current official funding rate of $18.47 an hour was actually $16.06 after deducting GST, accident compensation levies, holiday pay and sick leave.
Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin said the Budget would lift that "in phases" - "from $16 to $18 in 2019-20, $19 in 2020-21 and $20 in 2021-22".