NZEI unhappy about school leadership package

National secretary Paul Goulter said teachers and principals were "extremely cynical" about the new package. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Primary teachers' union NZEI said tonight its members were not happy about having the new $360 million school leadership package sprung on them without consultation.

But it will wait until it gets more detail about the policy proposal before voting on whether to begin formal negotiations to include the new roles and payments in collective contracts or boycott it.

Those decisions will be made at another set of paid stop-work meetings, probably in the second term.

The NZEI national executive met tonight to discuss the plan after a series of paid stop-work meetings around the country last week.

National secretary Paul Goulter said teachers and principals were "extremely cynical" about the new package because it ignored the biggest problem in the education system, the impact of poverty on children's success.

The feedback from members had been clear, he said.

"They have seen no evidence that the proposal will lift student success. They are not happy about the process and lack of consultation."

The NZEI is part of the working group that is required to deliver a paper on the plan by the end of April.

After the details had been released, the executive would ask member for "a clear direction on whether they want negotiations to vary the collective agreements to commence or whether they want nothing to do with the new roles."

Prime Minister John Key announced in January the creation of a new leadership roles in schools in a bid to life school performance and student achievement.

The aim was to involved the education sector in the detail of the policy and aim to begin four new roles from 2015:

- 250 executive principals who will get an extra $40,000 a year for working with about 10 other schools;
- 1000 expert teachers who will get an extra $20,000 for work in specialist subjects in their own schools and other schools;
- 5000 lead teachers who will be paid an extra $10,000 in recognition of their status as model teachers;
- 20 change principals who will be paid an extra $50,000 for three to five years to become principals in poorly performing and lift their performance.

The cost of the policy was put at $360 million over four years.

The New Zealand Principals' Federation decided at the weekend to set conditions for their continued involvement in the policy including that the measures of success not be reliant on national standards or NCEA results and that the policy development be evidenced based.