Minister attacks survey on teachers' pay

Education Minister Trevor Mallard has launched a vitriolic attack on a survey which claims parents want bulk-funding at schools so teachers can be paid according to their performance.

The survey, by conservative think-tank the Maxim Institute, concluded that paying good teachers better wages would raise teaching standards.

"I am not sure if you paid for this rubbish but if you did I would ask for your money back," Mr Mallard said in an email to the institute.

"I suggest that if it has not been released you get someone with an understanding of the way salaries are paid ... to do peer review for you otherwise Maxim will be seen to be a very stupid organisation."

The Maxim report said the current centrally-controlled and collectively bargained system meant good teachers were not being rewarded, and under-performing teachers had no incentive to improve.

It said a Colmar Brunton survey found 72 per cent of parents believed teachers who worked hardest and produced the best results should be paid more than other teachers.

And 70 per cent believed that if teachers were paid according to their performance, standards would rise.

Maxim's policy manager Nicki Taylor said there had been input from "three or four" principals who had an "excellent understanding" of the way salaries were paid.

But Mr Mallard said teachers were paid more for being effective and good teachers were paid much more.

The current collective agreement awards extra money to teachers earning responsibility units.

"This was made very clear during the secondary dispute when it was discovered that the average salary for teachers was above the top of the scale," Mr Mallard said.

It is not the first time the right-leaning Maxim Institute has angered Mr Mallard.

The institute is privately funded and describes itself as independent, but the education minister has previously labelled it "fundamentalist and rightwing".

Its latest report was drawn from a Colmar Brunton survey in August last year, which interviewed 1001 parents in both urban and rural areas.

Among the report's recommendations were that schools should be provided with an overall budget and given the freedom to allocate it "as best suits their school community". Schools could then implement different payment schemes for their teachers.

The report has been backed by the Education Forum, which said similar payment schemes were being introduced in parts of the United States.

"It is time to replace the ageing, one-size-fits-all, industrial-age teacher compensation system, with one that is designed to address today's challenges," said the group's policy adviser Norman LaRocque.

But the Post-Primary Teachers' Association said the survey was typical of Maxim - "superficial and self fulfilling".

President Debbie Te Whaiti said Maxim was using parents to give credibility to its own agenda - privatisation and deregulation of schools.

Maxim survey

72 per cent of parents said better teachers should be paid more than their colleagues

70 per cent believe performance pay would lift standards