Erica Stanford: Education Minister on primary principals striking a pay deal, primary teachers still holding off

Primary teachers are the last on the list in the education sector, still to strike a pay deal with the Government.  

Primary principals have accepted a cumulative 2.5% immediate pay rise and another 2.1% next year. 

It introduces a $15 thousand curriculum-change allowance, recognising their work implementing reforms. 

Education Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking teachers want the Treaty of Waitangi acknowledged and increased learning support. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Paid deal one for some of our school's primary principles
are voted to accept about thirteen hundred covered. It's a
two point five percent rise, a further two point one
next year, and also a fifteen thousand dollars curriculum change allowance.
There's also a boost literacy and numerous leadership payments. In
Erica Stanford, the Education Minister is with us. Good morning,
Good morning mate, So how many down? How many to go?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
We have just got primary teachers to go. We've done
all the principles now and the secondary school teachers and
we've just got the primary team and.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
They're back today. What's wrong with the teachers because the
offer to them that they rejected is two point five
to two point one, which is the same as the
principles as far as I can work out, and that's
similar numbers that the secondary teachers accepted. So what's the
primary teachers problem.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Well, they've been talking a lot about wanting to have
the Treaty of White Hongey acknowledged in their agreement. Yes,
and then also they have been talking a lot about
teacher aids and classrooms. We have already delivered in last
year's budget. The biggest increase in learning Support Generation seven
hundred and fifty million dollars, which includes hundreds of thousands

(01:04):
of hours of teacher aides. So we have ticked that off.
There's always more we can do, but that has been
already delivered through a budget. We just need to do
it through.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Is this the is the union, particularly in this case
a problem.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Look that the union are the union and they often
talk about things like the treaty and its place in
collective agreements.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Is that one you're seriously telling me that's what's holding
it up. So the secondary teachers say yes please, principles
say yes please. But the primary teachers, as long as
we can do a bit more treaty stuff, we're not signed.
Is that what this is down to.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, it's one of the things that they've been talking about,
and it's one of the things that they raised with me,
and certainly when I went to their conference a couple
of years ago, it was the main it was the
main thrust of the conference.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
So yes, So how does I take a Brian Roach's
running this? How does he get around that?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, he's already said to them that we had to
negotiate paying conditions and the treaty is not something that
we are going to negotiate on, so he's already made
that very clear. You know, we are here to implement
an enormous reform package to raise student achievement, and we're
here to look at classroom resources and professional learning and

(02:17):
development and help with the curriculum. Hence why we've settled
with the principles in that sort of manner around the reform.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Parent, do you think your average parent understands what's going
on here for their five year old seeing them off
to school, that's really about the treaty that told them
that next time the teachers are on strike.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well, the NZDI have been clear about that, so it's
out there in the public and whether or not the
parents know about it, I don't know. But look, it
is frustrating when we are trying to make sure that
parents are getting reporting, clear reporting that they are having
twice yearly assessments to measure progress, and we are raising achievement.
You know, it is a bit frustrating to be held

(02:57):
up over these things. Look, it's not the only thing.
As I say that, we're also talking about better learning support.
But as I say, we've already delivered a three quarter
of a billion dollar package in this area. So it
will be very frustrating if we're back to disruptions in
the classroom of something we've already delivered.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
Couldn't agree more. Put your immigration hat on. So the
power to ask suspected overstairs for identification in homes and workplaces.
Radio and New Zealand have managed to drum up a
lawyer this morning that suggests this is one step closer
to ice? Are we heading towards ice in Minneapolis here?

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Oh? Look, of course not. There is a very obvious
gap where when we send in a compliance officer to
specifically go and ask someone about something which we caught,
which quite often happens. They will go to a workplace
or a home, they'll be talking to that person that
they're there to see, and then somebody else will jump
out of a window and run away or hide from them.

(03:48):
Now it's clear that that person clearly is in breach
of their visa, but our officers can do nothing about it. Currently,
I don't have the legal power to say to the
person who's trying to run or hide, hello, what's your name?
They're not allowed to do that. It is just it's
a ridiculous loophole that we are closing. It does not
mean that they will be able to walk down the

(04:09):
street and ask you for your identification papers. It will
be in their normal course of duty when they're out
seeing someone else, if they have reasonable grounds, and that'll
be the key to ask that person for identification. So
of course I know the lawyer who have gone on
ourn zed and this is what iren Z does. But
if it is a very clear loophole we're trying to close.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Appreciate your time, Erica Stanford, Minister of Education and Minister
of Immigration. And then there are the two sides of
New Zealand as I understand them at the moment. One
a person who's trying to fix and rectify the place.
On the other side, people who are hell bent on
keeping us in misery and being downtrodden. For more from
the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks the'd

(04:49):
be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.