Longstone must talk to her bargaining team - PPTA

Secretary for education Lesley Longstone obviously needs to share her concerns about fairness and equity for all New Zealand students with her ministry’s bargaining team, says PPTA general secretary Kevin Bunker.

Initial bargaining for the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement began two weeks ago, with PPTA’s claim focussing on excellence and equity for all students, but nothing the ministry has put on the table addresses those issues, he said.

“The secretary wants teachers to do better for all students and that is exactly what we have taken to the table. But all the ministry seems to be interested in is an accounting exercise and taking away long-existing provisions. None of their claims focus on student learning at all,” he said.

“PPTA has lodged what we believe is a fair and reasonable claim for these times, which has been restricted to the few crucial areas of class size, quality teaching and fairness and equity for all students, teachers and schools.”

Part of PPTA’s claim is for staffing in poorly resourced low decile schools, Bunker said.

“This one of the things the government should clearly have in its sights if it is at all serious about educational inequity in New Zealand – yet it is the teachers who are pushing for it as part of their own claim.”

It was also inconsistent of Longstone to talk about the importance of addressing the disparity in educational achievement for disadvantaged groups in New Zealand while at the same time driving policies – such as league tables, quarterly funding and charter schools – that are all about increasing that disparity.

“She talks about the importance of applying the best evidence to support these students, but the organisation that blocks that happening is her own ministry. By refusing to listen to the sector’s concerns and continuing to promote policy that has been proven to lead to inequality rather than a high performing system, she is only paying lip-service to student equity and quality teaching,” he said.

Longstone claims she does not feel like she is “pushing against a closed door” when it comes to working with teachers, but a closed door seems to be exactly what our bargaining team is facing, Bunker said.
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