The secondary teaching pay gap

Once upon a time, New Zealand society saw teaching as a valuable profession, and our teachers were paid a living wage. Bryan Bruce, in his 2017 documentary, "Who Owns New Zealand Now" explained that in 1979, teachers and MPs had roughly pay parity (Bruce, 2017). 

However, between 1979 and 2017, New Zealand's "market-driven economic system [...] created huge income inequalities" (Bruce, 2017, 7:34), noting that "back in 1979" a new teacher "would have been earning $17,360 a year while our back bench MP was on $18,000, so [the salaries were] roughly equivalent". Seven years ago, in 2017, a new teacher "earns around $78,000 a year" (7:58), which, when compared to "a back bencher" MP's salary, who earns "$160,000 or twice as much" (8:00) there appears a lack of parity. Teaching salaries begin at just under $58,000 to specialist educators at just over $95,000 (Taunton, 2024), with an average of $79,000 (Glassdoor, 2024). Meanwhile a base level MP earns $164,000 (Sadler, 2023). Secondary school teachers still earn half of what an MP without portfolio earns.

I would not have thought that MPs do twice the work that secondary school teachers do; nor would I have thought that the value provided to the country by back bench MPs is twice that of a secondary school teacher. MPs do not require a degree to go into Parliament or to stand for office, yet almost all secondary school teachers possess a degree as well as a graduate certificate or diploma in teaching. They have all done close on four years tertiary training in order to teach. I cannot understand why this gulf exists... or how it got that way. 

The mechanisms for this reduction in pay parity are annoyingly opaque. Is it because we have devalued teaching? Is it because more women have moved into the field, and would accept less? Is it a conflation of the two? Or is there something else going on?

Irrespective of why, there appears to be a looming crisis in New Zealand secondary teacher recruitment because more are leaving the profession, and fewer are applying. In the six months from October of 2022 through to the end of March 2023, the PPTA reported that teaching "vacancies attracted an average of 1.6 New Zealand applicants [per ad;] less than half the pre-Covid figure of 3.4, and much lower than 10 years ago when schools received an average 9.9 New Zealand applicants for every position advertised" (Gerritsen, 2023). 

While a proposed secondary school teacher pay rise of 14.5% was accepted by Government in 2023 (Neilson, 2023), pay alone is not the only issue for a lack of applicants. Long hours, heavy administration, having to work within the confines of NCEA with few teaching resources, working with old technology and infrastructure, being a behavioural psychologist, dealing with disruptive students, and helicopter parents (Kitchin, 2023) all take their toll; particularly the sixty hour weeks for an average of $90k per annum.

It will be interesting to see what - if anything - changes. 

Sam

References:

Bruce, B. (Director). (2017). Who Owns New Zealand Now [documentary film]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/233433126

Gerritsen, J. (2023, May 5). Secondary Principals report ‘unprecedented shortages’ of teacher across New Zealand. New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/secondary-principals-report-unprecedented-shortages-of-teachers-across-new-zealand/XNU6HN7G3JEXRI5QRDOZPCVYTY/

Glassdoor. (2024,March 6). How much does a Teachers make in New Zealand?. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/new-zealand-teachers-salary-SRCH_IL.0,11_IN186_KO12,20.htm

Kitchin, T. (2023, June 20). What life is like for high school teachers in New Zealand amid ongoing industrial action. Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018894967/what-it-s-like-to-be-a-high-school-teacher-in-new-zealand

Ministry of Education. (2022, June 16). The Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities (NELP) and the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES). https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/overall-strategies-and-policies/the-statement-of-national-education-and-learning-priorities-nelp-and-the-tertiary-education-strategy-tes/

Neilson, M. (2023, August 2). Teacher pay rise: Education Minister Jan Tinetti on Government response to secondary school proposal of 14.5 per cent increase. New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/teacher-pay-rise-education-minister-jan-tinneti-on-government-response-to-secondary-school-proposal-of-145-per-cent-increase/BAGNPSN4DZAHHGNU3CZ2IPDFWM/

Sadler, R. (2023, January 8). How Jacinda Ardern's and New Zealand MPs' salaries compare to overseas politicians. Newshub. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/01/how-jacinda-ardern-s-and-new-zealand-mps-salaries-compare-to-overseas-politicians.html

Taunton, E. (2024, March 13). Here’s how much police officers get paid. Stuff. https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350209423/heres-how-much-police-officers-get-paid