Budget 2018:
a letdown for educators
This year's Budget could have been so much better.
This government has no choice about funding more classrooms when student numbers are growing. But who's going to teach those kids when we can't attract and retain teachers to teach them?
How are we going to pay our support staff a fair wage and maintain our schools when the operations grant funding has decreased again in real terms?
We are pleased there has been some effort to assist children with additional learning needs, but only 250 more kids will receive ORS funding this year - what about the thousands of others who need it and won't get it?
And why is ECE still getting a rough deal after years of frozen funding?
So let's band together on this one. Whether you're an educator, a family member, or you're simply one of the 92% of New Zealanders who agrees that public services need more funding, let's tell the Minister that we expected better. Our kids are depending on it.
Act now. Send a postcard to the Finance Minister, Grant Robertson.
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Breaking it down
We know it takes a lot to fix years of neglect, but we need to fix this urgently. Teachers and principals are burning out.
Last week we published a breakdown of what we'll need to get back on track, and asked Infometrics to double-check the figures. We have a lot of catching up to do. And while the Budget's given us some relief in some of the areas we've been looking at, it falls very short on others.
