Wanganui teachers are opposing the "germ" they say is infecting education.
Teachers from across the city's school sector were at Majestic Square yesterday to raise awareness of the global education reform movement (GERM), which they say is experimenting with our school kids.
They said they wanted to rally away from school so it did not affect the children.
NZEI Whanganui branch president Christine Omundsen said that teaching mattered to every teacher, and their positions as professionals were being undermined by the Government and the Ministry of Education.
"We are no longer being referred to as professionals, we are being called employees," Mrs Omundsen said.
Teachers trained for anywhere up to five years, they got a degree and went to teachers' college.
"Young teachers work their guts out. Teaching is not a job, it is a vocation," she said.
Teachers did the best they could to educate in a public school, which they enjoyed, and they did not want charter schools, she said. "We can educate, we can excel in public [schools]."
GERM, the teachers say, has infected other countries by introducing standardisation, competition and test-based accountability.
"What has happened overseas has not worked. National Standards, primary school league tables, proposals for charter schools and performance pay for teachers in our schools are not the answer," Mrs Omundsen said.
"Our kids are being experimented on. It's all of us fighting to protect a quality public education system which is fair and equitable, based on collaboration and trust and where every child's learning needs are met."
The teachers say National Standards is a "one-size-fits all that provides a narrower education". The standards were developed and imposed without any piloting or testing. That was one of the policies foisted on schools on which the teachers wanted consultation.
NZEI convener for support staff Sue Nimmo said yesterday a lot of young teachers were there fighting for their jobs.
"Look at Shaun Priest. He was bitter, hurt and worried, which sums it all up," Ms Nimmo said.
Mr Priest said recently that "he could not do it any more. Schools are being urged to become more businesslike, more accountable, more financially viable."
He said he was not a businessman.
He said he cared about the learning of children.
Mr Priest resigned from teaching and as principal of Aranui School, where he taught for 24 years, saying it was time to walk away from the "madness of today's education system".