Public Services Minister Judith Collins drew criticism for her comments that teachers with a decade of experience earn $147,000 a year including allowances. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Explainer - There's been a lot of talk about how much teachers earn, including some inaccurate comments by Public Service Minister Judith Collins that she has since clarified.
Primary and secondary school teachers are currently at odds with the government over their pay.
Secondary school teachers are set to strike Wednesday following what they say is an unsatisfactory pay offer from the government.
The Post Primary Teachers' Association or PPTA announced the action last week.
Primary school teachers have also voted to reject the 1 percent pay rise.
But how much do teachers earn? Here are the facts.
What do teachers actually earn?
Teachers are paid a base salary with their starting point on the scale ranging from 1 to 10 depending on their qualifications and experience.
They typically can progress a step per year of employment if they meet service and performance requirements.
Their pay also can include a combination of various management units, allowances and other payments.
At Step 1, a teacher would currently earn a base salary of $61,239 a year, on up to $75,340 at Step 5, $90,960 at Step 8 and then $103,086 at Step 10.
Teacher salary steps and proposed increases in the government's latest offer. Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Education
According to the Ministry of Education, the average salary for all secondary teachers in 2024 was $100,933 and their average starting salary was $78,300.
Secondary and primary school teachers are on a unified base salary scale to ensure pay parity.
There are a variety of extra allotments teachers can be given for taking on other leadership or work responsibilities. They include management units, middle management allowances and senior management allowances.
Senior management allowances would be for teachers who are an assistant or deputy principal and do principal duties at times. The specific values of each unit are set in individual and collective employment agreements.
What's the government's offer?
The current pay offer by the government would increase rates by 1 percent a year for the next three years, which would bring Step 1 to $63,187 by 21 July 2027, or a $1858 pay rise, and Step 10 to $106,210 by 2027, a $3124 increase.
The offer is well below the 14.5 percent over three years won through arbitration in 2023 and the average 10 percent over three years the union's members accepted in 2019.
Both of those settlements also included lump sum payments.
What did Judith Collins say about teacher salaries?
The Public Service Minister said last week during a media stand-up (approximately 5min 30sec in) that "I think on average, someone with 10 years' experience is on about $140,000, plus of course all the time that they have on leave as well as professional development".
On Newstalk ZB, Collins also said, "If you've got 10 years' experience, with the normal allowances that most would be getting, that's $147,000 a year and you add in that the fact that there is three months paid leave, now who else gets that?"
Those contents drew a lot of ire online, with one teacher calling it "disinformation" in an email to RNZ.
However, Collins has since issued a clarification on the statements.
"I just mixed up my messages a bit, and so I've apologised for that," Collins told RNZ, but added "high school teachers are paid well".
Her office said that her "written statement was correct and she apologises for mixing the message verbally".
A Beehive statement issued last week said: "A secondary school teacher with 10 years of experience can currently earn up to $147,000, including allowances".
Collins' office added that teachers' "pay has increased 14.5 percent over the past three years and the offer on the table represents a 3 percent increase over three years, on top of annual pay progression of 4-7.5 percent".
PPTA Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said only 20 to 30 deputy principal teaching staff throughout the country would earn $147,000 a year.
"The $147k claim is extremely misleading. The only teachers earning that kind of salary are deputy principals in very large secondary schools.
"There are a very small number of these deputy principals around the country, so it's a tiny proportion of the 25,000-strong secondary teaching workforce.
"We have requested this kind of salary information from the Ministry of Education but they still haven't provided it."
Abercrombie said that a teacher would have to be on eight management units and two senior management allowances to reach that level.
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Collins called teacher strike action "highly disruptive". Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Collins last week called the secondary school teachers' strike "highly disruptive", accusing teachers of not engaging in talks fully.
Collins's office called for the PPTA to return to bargaining.
"The union has chosen disruption over dialogue; strikes disrupt student learning, especially those preparing for important assessments and exams.
"They also put undue pressure on families, with parents and caregivers forced to make alternative arrangements when their schools are no longer operating as normal."
Abercrombie said the government is not framing salary debates in a constructive manner.
"The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, in particular, speak often about the desire to have a world-class public education system in Aotearoa New Zealand.
"Most New Zealanders would imagine that at the heart of a world-class system would be well-paid and highly valued subject specialist teachers.
"A world-class system would surely involve growing a healthy supply of locally trained subject specialist teachers via attractive pay and conditions.
"Yet, the government is offering teachers a 1 percent salary increase - well below current inflation rates."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
