Secondary teachers have called off strike action planned for tomorrow to allow contracts negotiations with the Ministry of Education to continue.

Primary school teachers could strike next year if they do not get a better offer, says the teachers' union.

The Ministry of Education is contacting the trustees of every primary and intermediate school to ask about their stance on National Standards.

Two education researchers are supporting a boycott of the Government's mandatory national standards by 225 primary school boards.

Phil Goff says the "untested" National Standards system the Govt is trying to push through won't succeed and should be delayed.

More than 200 schools are refusing to introduce part of the Government's mandatory national standards next year after voting "no confidence" in the system.

Whenever there are cuts to be made, it always seems to be down to the Education Minister to make them, writes Dita De Boni.

The 20 hours of free care children 3 and over receive in early childhood centres is under review.

Among the 24 state sector CEOs whose performance over the year had been reviewed, six were paid more, five were paid less and 13 stayed the same.

There is no new money to offer teachers a bigger pay increase unless they wanted to burden their students with a future of paying off national debt, says Prime Minister John Key.

The Ministry of Education says it will not dock the pay of secondary teachers striking this week as a show of good faith.