Primary school principals will today ask for a pay rise of up to 18 per cent to gain a "sensible margin" between their pay and that of their teachers.
The claim by the primary principals union, NZEI, would cost the government as much as $35 million andalso asks for 200 sabbatical leave positions of 10 weeks - up from the current 40 positions available each year.
"We acknowledge that this is a significant cost but New Zealand has a major problem with the recruitment and retention of principals," said Frances Nelson, vice president ofthe union.
Base salaries for principals range from $65,000 to $120,000, with extra allowances for those in charge of larger schools and low-decile schools.
A teacher at the top of the pay scale will earn a basic salary of about $62,000.
Ms Nelson said 39 per cent of the 90 schools advertising for a principal in the Education Gazette over the past six months had had to do so more than once.
Some small rural schools were advertising more than four times.
"If we cannot attract and recruit good people to be school leaders,our internationally respected schooling system and our students' learning will suffer.
"All the research shows that investing in school leadership is fundamental to ensuring we maintain and enhance quality public education in the 21st century."
Ms Nelson said both the pay increase and the margin over classroom teachers were essential if teachers were to have an incentive to step up to the added responsibilities of being a principal - a role she described as "24-hour-a-day".
In July, 99 per cent of the 1920 primary principals represented by NZEI voted to support the claim, she said.
The increase in sabbatical positions was a "central plank" of the claim, which was for increases ranging between 5 per cent and 18 per cent in the first year depending on the size of the school.
This would "reinstate a sensible margin", said Ms Nelson.
A further 4 per cent increase per year for the second and third years of the proposed agreement is also sought.
