“If they are showing up to school we need to show up for them.”
That is the sentiment of one “distraught” Tauranga teacher who says some children are not succeeding due to the lack of funding for learning support in the region.
Jodi Hill, Gate Pā School leader of learning support, was one of 50,000 teachers and supporters who participated in yesterday’s strike calling for higher staffing numbers, more school funding and better pay.
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) president Mark Potter said the action, which also included members of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA), principals and early childhood teachers, was the “biggest strike we’ve ever had in education history” in New Zealand.
Image 1 of 19: Alex Strahan, 8, picketing outside Fraser Cove during the teachers' strike in Tauranga. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Ministry of Education acknowledged the “variety of concerns” raised by teachers and principals but said it was only through negotiation that an agreement would be met, with the parties to resume talks.
Education Minister Jan Tinetti - a former principal of Merivale School principal in Tauranga - told protesters at Parliament she had been in their shoes, and that she acknowledged parts of the system were “broken”.
“I commit to you that we will do better.”
Yesterday about 1900 strikers gathered at Tauranga Racecourse before heading to various picket sites around the city, including outside Tinetti’s Tauranga office.
Hill told the Bay of Plenty Times she saw daily how the lack of funding impacted students.
She said the budget for learning support in the Bay of Plenty was “so low” and did not reflect the level of need in the region, with teachers acting as “social workers, counsellors, and psychologists” due to an increase in students with high needs.
Hill said if students could easily access specialist support then it would allow school staff to focus on the “core business” of teaching.
“We are really distraught we can’t do what we wanted to in this profession - see the kids succeeding.”
Much of her time was spent working with these students and applying for various types of funding for them, she said. Often applications were declined or students were not given enough support.
“There are barriers to getting the support we need.
She said she applied for emergency funding for a child who made a complete mess of a classroom.
“That child only received six hours a week support from the Ministry in response, yet we are supposed to have them in class full-time.”
She said other students were “missing out” on learning because of the time she spent working with children presenting “heavy behavioural issues and trauma”.
“Five per cent of our roll takes 80 per cent of our time to deal with. We see our other kids missing out and that breaks our hearts.”
Hill, who also led a team of junior teachers, believed politicians needed to “invest in the future of New Zealand”.
“It’s about giving the kids what they need and deserve - a quality education. If they are showing up to school we need to show up for them.”
Terry Furmage, assistant principal and special education needs co-ordinator at Gate Pā School, described the education system as “broken”.
“They want inclusive education - we are happy to do it - but you have got to support it.”
Picketing outside Fraser Cove, 8-year-old Alex Strahan told the Bay of Plenty Times he was striking to support his hardworking mum Sarah who worked at Gate Pā School.
He spent the morning chanting, armed with a sign that read: “Give teachers more money”.
“She does work hard and she always tries to work for her school to make it better,” he said.
Also at the site were husband and wife Andy and Bissy Groom who taught at Tauranga Intermediate.
Bissy said the decision to strike was “not something we take lightly” as they were both losing a day’s pay.
But she said the pair, who had two children, aged nine and 11, was “doing it for the benefit of students”.
“We want to see resourcing and time put into teaching so we can do our jobs, plan lessons and make learning engaging so they want to be at school.”
Ōtūmoetai College teacher Roy Ballantyne said during his 46-year career, there had been an “ongoing battle to get proper conditions and proper pay”.
“I have really enjoyed my career but it’s time to step up and do something to help the teaching force meet the demands of being a really good teacher.”
Tauranga early childhood teacher Tim Bennett said his main reason for striking was to “give a voice” to educators working in the private sector.
He said they also needed increased sick leave because teachers were “so exposed to sickness”.
“If a kaiako [teacher] has no sick leave left and they are unwell they are incentivised to come to work. This means they are spreading it around the community.”
Secondary school teacher Jeremy Ball, who has worked in the education sector for 51 years, said he saw many young teachers starting in the profession and then leaving.
The 72-year-old said, in his view, education in New Zealand had gradually gone “downhill”.
”The Government have not recognised the importance of teachers.”
Ball was working three days a week in a “job share” in Te Puke High School’s technology department.
”Children come into the class with learning disorders, dyslexia … and oftentimes there’s no teacher aide in there.”
He had taught in the United Kingdom, Bahamas and Bermuda.
In New Zealand, Ball had worked in Tūrangi then Taupo-nui-a-Tia College, until after retirement age, before coming to the Bay of Plenty intending to do relief teaching.
”A little bit of relieving turned into, I was in school every day.”
In a statement, Ministry of Education general manager of employment relations Mark Williamson acknowledged “the variety of concerns that teachers and principals have raised” but said an agreement would only be reached through negotiation.
Ministry staff were set to meet with the PPTA today with the assistance of a mediator to “discuss the secondary teachers’ collective agreement”, he said.
“We are working with NZEI to set dates for further negotiations for primary teachers, kindergarten teachers and primary principals.”
Speaking before a crowd of striking teachers, their families and supporters in front of Parliament, Tinetti said there were “areas” of the education system she knew were “completely broken”.
”I know that we have to do better and I commit to you that we will do better.”
The minister said she was not offended by the protest and said it gave her “more desire” for a resolution.
”I have stood out there right where you are now and I have protested. I have also been a teacher and a principal. And so I absolutely know and value the work that you do.”
Gate Pā School teacher Olivia Amundsen:
“It’s not just about the money it’s about the support for the children we are not getting. I love we are all united. It’s a positive energy but really sad we have to do this.”
Mount Maunganui College social science teacher Tricia Lawrence:
“You leave feeling like you haven’t been able to do your job properly. Everybody is feeling this and New Zealand needs to understand this. Teachers don’t do this for themselves - it’s about our kids.”
Greerton Village Kindergarten teacher Cherry Wallace:
”I’m supporting a family of five with a mortgage to pay. It’s getting tighter and tighter.”
Three two-storey units are reported to be well alight.