Teacher's strike - teachers matter, let's reallocate some pieces of pie within education to give them what they deserve!

This Thursday the 16th March both Primary and Secondary teachers will be striking. There is no question, teachers deserve more money. Put bluntly, there is a teacher shortage, teaching has become increasingly complex and to top it off they are also the profession most at risk of contracting COVID-19 with teachers having the highest rates of infection of any occupational group. And I say all of this as a career educator 25 years in who is still very much in love with the profession. I also say all of this as someone who recognises the challenges that governments face when everyone seems to be asking for more. I recognise that the NZ Government and Ministry of Education has a limited budget and when all of the sectors go to their Ministers cap in hand we can not expect more money to be allocated to one sector at the expense of another. Earlier today I read two posts by Paula Wine that got me thinking. You can read her excellent insights here and here . In the first post she provides a