Have been visiting a few schools over the past week. Last Tuesday morning I walked into the staffroom of one school to an open Dominion with the page 3 headline ‘Teachers out of touch with reality – PM’. Wow. Gave me the perfect introduction, but I was surprised at the audacity of the PM in criticising such an amazing group of professionals.
There are just 2 things I wish to say re Key’s comment:
1. as far as I am concerned, teachers are more in touch with reality than almost any other profession. Especially in the lower decile schools where they do far more than simply ‘teach’.
2. The govt’s strategy / plan / goal (whatever) is to catch up with Australia re wages and salaries. Inflation is running at 3% this year, up to 5.9% next year, and the govt wants to give teachers 1%. Hmmm. That’s no way to catch the Aussies. Teachers don’t earn million dollar salaries (but most deserve them). They are, however, the guardians of the future: if they excel, so do our communities; if they fail, so do our children. Quite a responsibility.
Mr Key’s comment was insulting. A man worth $60m calls teachers out of touch with reality for wanting a pay rise that at least keeps pace with inflation. A man who has just spent over a billion in tax payers money to bail out investors who pumped significant money into SCF knowing all investments were risk-free, and yet he can’t find more than 1% for our teachers.
Perceptions of reality differ substantially between Mr Key and a whole lot of people.
PS – definition of reality in the staffroom: a whole lot of pissed off primary school teachers at the way national standards has been rolled out.
Well, he a merchant banker by trade. Everything explain, cause for them money does seem to come out of thin air.
You know the only way to land a big fish, Stuart. Fight fight fight to reel it in.
I know, why don’t we borrow $4,200,000,000,000 dollars and give everyone $1,000,000..? Then we’ll be way ahead of the Aussies…
I thought that was a very accurate heading and once again John Key was right on the button.
Spot on Stuart. We, and the future of the country, needs our teachers, and they deserve better treatment, than Key and NACT are dishing out to them.
Agreed Stuart.
Quite frankly the teachers (and their unions) are really annoying me. Can someone on the left please come up with a good reason why National Standards should not be implemented. For all the whining and whinging I still have not seen a good reason against National Standards. Please do not feed me that NS should be trialed – that is not a reason.
teachers with their outlandish pay claims and threats of stikes are divorced from reality – teachers have enjoyed a 50% increase in their pay during the Clark decade – while other workers average was 30% – so please don’t cry me a river about under pay blah blah blah. I no longer care what teachers are paid – if they don’t like it then they are free to find other higher paying work here of over seas. Teachers do need a reality check – they are not so precious as they seem to think they are.
Monty, 50% over ten years is an average of 4% per annum. The current offer is more than half below that over the next two years on offer. Outlandish? Yes!
Now, back to the real world for me.
Spot on Monty. If Stuart Nash calls that a ‘serve’ I would hate to see what his ‘lob’ looks like. Teachers are indeed showing some distancing from reality. I am sure everybody would like a pay increase at present. I don’t know why teachers consider themselves separate from the rest of us. They should harden up and get on with the job like everybody else. They are rapidly falling into the same category as cooks and stewards, and boilermakers in most people’s eyes.
So Mac1 – The left and their sense of entitlement.
Most people at the moment are going without increases – for example my work has not has a increase in 2 years. Thats just how it is – not just for me – but many, many, many other kiwis.
Having teachers strike over it is well out of step with the rest of the working population – and I believe that they will be scored over it.
Indeed 100% of the people I have spoken with are disgusted that teachers are holding our kids for ransom and are indeed are not just ‘out of whack’ but will lose any support that they may have had over other items that they were wanting.
But Nash and Labour – keep on banging on how you disagree with key on this. The polls keep saying that its you that are out touch with reality of what the public think.
So, Chris, who is it that decides what people are entitled to? Unions, responsible unions, full of responsible people in negotiation with their employer, taking into account wages falling behind the cost of living, recruitment and retention, working conditions.
Who will decide, and when, that times are ‘good’ again and increases are available? Those taking part in the negotiation process, or pontificators from the right?
Entitlement is important. I am entitled to fair pay, fair conditions. I am entitled to negotiate. I am entitled to belong to a strong union. There is nothing wrong with entitlement.
You abuse the word ‘entitlement’ by association with troughing politicians, troughing investors and businessmen and other parasites, where personal greed is placed over the public good.
Strikes happen when employers don’t negotiate in good faith. Working people know that. The right wants to depress wages, break strong unions and beat the wages earners down into compliance, using industrial law, the excuse of recession and permanent unemployment.
Teachers have strong unions. They teach people to be independent of thought and to aspire to the heights of personal achievement and fulfilment.
They are against the dumbing down of society in favour of the few, the wealthy, the elite, those who truly do have a sense of entitlement. Those whom the Right favours.
If your wages are low in your workplace, get organised. Your employer is not the only one who should determine your wages. You will get all the excuses, otherwise. Are you not entitled to more?
monty… you really need to keep up with the debate if you don’t want to become irrelevant. all the information you needed to have an informed opinion was published weeks/months ago. and trialing IS a valid assessment tool, whether you agree or not.
richard… partisan bitchiness is not a substitute for real contributions. you need to realise that your own little circle of friends nodding to each other and goin yea naah yea naah repeatedly doesn’t qualify you as an expert on what the majority think.
chris… havn’t you learn’t anything yet? do you have a pathological need to be repeatedly shown up as a narrow reactionary bigot? well you are doing a marvelous job if you do.
the anger teachers are feeling is more to do with the political attacks on their characters and the demonising of the profession, carried out as ordered by our daily print and tv media.
ask yourself this. why would you strike if the negotiating process is being conducted in an atmosphere of good faith and commitment on both sides to achieve a reasonable outcome? answer there is no justification.
so why strike? because the government is not conducting these negotiations in anything like good faith.
at Mac1 – Im using entitlement in the correct context – as this is low a lot of people are seeing teachers at the moment. Asking for a 4% rise is out there in the current enviorns.
@ BBfloyd comments like “do you have a pathological need to be repeatedly shown up as a narrow reactionary bigot? really show you out to be a very unpleasant person who simply put thinks that everyone with a different view to them is a … well.. you et the idea. Still – Im gald to see that labour languish in the polls still while people like you make such a noise about items like this.
Ask yourself this (or better yet – lets get someone from labour to state) would they 100% agree to the 4% payrise for teachers?
no of course they wont.
Why, bbfloyd, that’s the nicest thing you have ever said to me.
Good thing is when teachers leave the profession from high student ratios, pay rises below inflation, extra curricula “free work” there’ll be loads of people to take their places, right boys?
I thought this was the market forces the right like so much. If you can replace the teachers easily, then let them strike. Supply and demand.
Anyone notice how the police never have to strike or threaten to strike, but nurses and teachers and doctors do?
They are allowed to strike, isn’t this a Free Market economy that you New Right fellas want.
Nats always assume all teachers vote Labour or Green.
No votes lost.
Nat supporters think the same.
Their prejudices are KY jelled.
Key cannot lose.
The Right like their law and order enforced.
Keep those pesky lower socioeconomic classes in line.
Break up protest marchers and picketers etc.
“Keep those pesky lower socioeconomic classes in line. Break up protest marchers and picketers etc.”
Exactly, Loota. I didn’t think you were one of us, but now I realise you’re currently in disguise.
Very clever.
@Tracey if the policemen went on strike there would be no enforcement of laws for the day. Could end up being very chaotic.
Woo hoo!
No more liquor ban! 
!
If they police went on strike they would just call the army to bring them back in line or do there work. The cops get paid alright money, maybe to prevent these sort of issues arising.
@Monty
“Can someone on the left please come up with a good reason why National Standards should not be implemented. For all the whining and whinging I still have not seen a good reason against National Standards”
All children are different! They learn at different rates, some times faster and sometimes slower. Also every child learn in his/her own way, in there own time. So this lead to all sort of result that can’t be standardised.
Trouble is children will produce things that won’t fit that national standards, things that are out of the box. It easy to tell if a child can do it e.g. read and writing. BUT its a bit more trickery to tell how good or bad. It not something you can put a rule to and say this good or that bad.
Plus some of these kids are very young it alot of stress, especially if they only have just started school! They might be only 5, yet national want them to ‘perform’ properly.
Its a hell lot of stress on the teacher and children to make sure things ‘fit’ correctly with the national standards or wise the poor kid is commended (I was under the old days when national was in power, jenny shipley and crew). At 5 years old they don’t understand such a concept either and they won’t until they about 11 or 12.
Simply the standards are to narrow for children. Kids are in there own little worlds doing things there own way. They don’t give a fig for national standards, play lunch is more important.
Basically national standards is trying to find corner on a circle. It just can’t be done!
I doubt that has changed you mind. I guess you will tell me its a weak argument and its complete irrelevant. Sigh….
“or wise” = otherwise
I worked for the Police for a while RUTB, we were not allowed to strike (there were laws against it) but there was a binding arbitration system available…
@Jeremy M Harris
Interesting, I never knew about the laws against striking and arbitration system. I learn something new everyday.
Typical of the right to think that it’s all about the money…
The pay is only a part of what the teachers are striking over. The work conditions (or rather, removal of) is what I see the teachers getting pissed off over. How would you like your kids to be in a classroom with maybe 35-40 kids? If National have their way, then there will be no limit on how many kids are in a class (present limit I believe is 30, but in classes where there are hazards like hard tech room then 24). Wow, that’s really conducive to learning, potentially having unlimited numbers of kids in one classroom.
They also are wanting immunisations against contagious diseases. Which, given how many people each teacher would come into contact with everyday would seem pretty legit – kids come to school sick, pass it on to teacher… Well, I don’t think I really need to spell it out for you any more do I?
There’s more I could say, but I think I’ve spelt out enough for now (and I have to go and study
)