Editorial: Support staff deserve better

Paul Brooks

Who is responsible for our children's education?

Teachers? Certainly. But they are just one part of the multi-faceted ecology of the school. Surrounding them, helping them and supporting them are the people we take for granted but would seriously miss if they weren't there.

The support staff are a vital part of any school but, while they might be essential, they are evidently undervalued by those who should have their best interests at heart.

Support staff, which includes teacher aides, librarians, learning support specialists, administration staff, caretakers and cleaners, are paid from the schools' operational grants.

Teachers' salaries are not; they are under a separate system.

The operational grant is provided by the Ministry of Education and is directly affected by a school's decile rating, in that if the decile is changed, the operational grant is adjusted.

Decile ratings are sometimes changed for no obvious reason with an immediate effect on the money used to keep the school running.

If that grant decreases, schools often have no option but to either lose essential staff or reduce their hours of employment to meet the adjusted budget.

To make it worse, last year the Government put a freeze on all schools' operational grants. That same year parliamentarians got a 2.49 per cent pay rise.

A few months before they enjoyed a 4 per cent pay rise. One could ask -- which group produces the most value?

A small group of concerned people, backed by the NZEI (New Zealand Educational Institute), the education union, handed out information in Majestic Square yesterday, alerting locals to the predicament and asking them to sign postcards to the Minister of Education in protest.

Many did.

They see the value of the people responsible for the day-to-day running of our educational system.

Many of us feel that it's about time they were rewarded with adequate remuneration and favourable appreciation from a Government that, right now, doesn't seem to care.