He is concerned the offer will fail to attract people into the profession as there is no focus on wellbeing and the pay increases are too far away time-wise.
“I think the ministry has got away with it scot-free,” he said. “The treasurer needs to put his hands back in his pockets and pull out the rabbits.”
Newman said in terms of wellbeing for principals, there was not enough on offer, particularly around professional supervision.
“Social workers have that as a requirement and I think if there’s any profession that needs it, it’s us,” he said.
Newman thought the offer may be accepted but “by a very close margin”.
NZEI Te Riu Roa representative for Te Tai Tokerau and Kāeo School principal Paul Barker labelled the offer “disappointing”.
“While some principals are fairly happy they’ll get some extra pay, that’s only part of the equation,” he said.
Barker said he wouldn’t mind betting that over extra pay and more management support, many principals would choose the latter.
He felt the Ministry of Education was “reluctant to provide the mechanism” to make wellbeing improvements for principals he said they know are needed.
Barker recently spoke with the Advocate about the daily difficulties principals of smaller primary schools face. He said not many of the issues raised were solved by the latest pay offer.
Much like Newman, Barker said the timeframe for the pay rise to occur is too long.
It will take a year and a half before the full pay rises come into effect, with the next collective agreement expiring soon after.
