Are secondary school teachers paid enough?
Numbers tell a different story about teachers’ pay
The old saying goes that numbers don’t tell lies. But they can tell very different stories. Over the past 20 years, the salary of a secondary teacher at the top of the scale has increased by close to 75%. In contrast, a backbench MP’s pay has increased by about 50%, and a Prime Minister’s by about 40%.
On those figures, it can be argued that our current Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, is justified in his criticism of industrial action by secondary teachers over their current pay dispute. However, in real money terms, a Prime Minister’s increase in pay is $135,000 per year, considerably higher than the current annual pay of $103,000 for a secondary teacher at the top of the scale. For a backbench MP, the increase is $59,000 a year, for a secondary teacher it is only $44,000.
On these figures, it can be argued that while teaching may be one of the most socially critical roles in society, it remains financially undervalued compared to politicians, and the PPTA is justified in making that point. And the fact that there was close to pay parity between MPs’ and teachers’ pay in the 1950s and 60s makes the current gap even more striking.
David Hood, Hamilton.
Vapes can help
The editorial Government shouldn’t fund ‘less-bad’ addictions to quit smoking (Oct 13) misses the evidence.
ASH welcomes the approach to fund vape kits for adult smokers as a means to quit tobacco use.
There’s strong evidence that, in tandem with support from health professionals, quit-smoking rates with vaping exceed those using nicotine and drug therapies.
A 2022 study of 100 participants in Vape-to-Quit showed 47% were smokefree at six months, which compares favourably to an unassisted rate of only 5%.
Although there are unknowns about the very long-term risks of vaping, there is excellent and independent evidence that vaping nicotine carries substantially less risk than smoking.
It is less harmful than smoking because vaping delivers nicotine without the deadly cocktail of toxins in smoke. It is worrying when a majority incorrectly believe nicotine causes cancer.
Participants will vape to quit smoking under the supervision of someone with specialist training under New Zealand’s guidelines, which includes supporting vaping when other treatments have failed, and helping people towards the ultimate goal of being smokefree and vapefree.
The reality is that supplying vapes via stop-smoking services will certainly save lives, not harm them.
Ben Youdan, director, ASH - Action for Smokefree 2025.
State of play
Dene Green, in a letter (Oct 7), raises the important and ongoing issue of numbers of elected Auckland councillors in relation to population growth. Franklin area is his example. This same issue of fair representation is also relevant to other population growth areas of the Auckland region.
There is a solution. Adopt the parliamentary boundaries of electorates from Wellsford to Pukekohe as the basis for representation. This would give a council of 25 members, 23 general seats and two Māori seats. The Representation Commission at government level sets the boundaries and not the council.
For governance, the Auckland region should be thought of as a small Australian state.
Brian Lythe, Greenlane.
Queen St shame
No surprise to read in the Herald (Oct 14) that 97% of readers think the central city, especially Queen St, is disgusting.
You must feel for the property owners and businesspeople trying to survive in such a toxic environment. I would like to declare it a disaster zone for immediate action.
Queen St once was a bustling environment regarded as Auckland’s premier spot for working and shopping. Years of mismanagement by successive councils - add in Auckland Transport (AT) - have destroyed this environment. Under the pretext of “Get Auckland Moving”, the exact opposite has been achieved. Vehicles can’t move, stop, or park. One wrong move and you will be ticketed for being in the wrong lane. So businesses with huge overheads are dying a slow and painful death.
You also have homeless people sleeping, begging and urinating in your storefront. This needs to be addressed immediately. Homeless people need to be removed and taken to a shelter so they can shower and bunk down for the night.
Queen St needs to be restored to a premier location so it is a pleasure to visit.
Douglas Anderson, Whitianga.
Guns fall silent
The guns are silent, the bombs aren’t falling, food and medicine is starting to get through. And bluntly, Netanyahu wasn’t going to stop until Trump forced him to.
Trump is not a subtle man and many of the nuances of the situation probably escape him. But for now, the children of Gaza are safer than they have been for two years.
John O’Neill, Dargaville.