Protesters in Wellington last month on the day teachers' went on strike over the government's pay offer. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Secondary teachers want more support and more money as they get ready to strike again next week.
Post Primary Teachers' Association said its members voted overwhelmingly to reject an improved offer from the government.
The strike is staggered, so each day from Monday until Thursday, they will refuse to teach or supervise a particular year level.
But the Public Service Commission said the union was choosing strikes over students and should get back to the bargaining table.
Maths teacher and the union's Ōtākou regional chair, Kussi Hurtado-Stuart, wanted his students to have the support they needed to learn.
Teacher aides were invaluable, but there was not enough funding for them so they were only sporadically in class, he said.
"We are so hamstrung by the numeracy ability of our students. It is not terrible, not scary, but they need a lot of support," he said.
"Primary teachers are doing their best but they're not often maths specialists and the strategies that students come in with at Year 9 really affect how they succeed in Year 13."
A student's lack of confidence in a subject limited what they felt they could do, he said.
That could lead to some not trying - or using avoidance tactics, which could disrupt the class.
Kussi Hurtado-Stuart said teachers should be able to provide for their family.
"We're in a cost of living crisis, and we've been given two offers so far that are below the inflation over both years that that contract would be giving us that pay increase," he said.
"So it is actually a pay cut over those two years because it's not keeping up with inflation."
Post Primary Teachers' Association president Chris Abercrombie said New Zealand was short about 800 teachers because they were leaving for better pay in Australia or changing careers.
"Teachers really just want an offer from the government that reflects the needs of our sector," he said.
"There is so much unmet need in secondary schools at the moment, particularly around pastoral care, particularly around professional development."
Teachers were facing a once-in-a-generation change to curriculum and assessment, and they needed to make sure they had the workforce to do that, Abercrombie said.
Negotiations had been tough, he said.
"We've got really clear expectations from the sector, from teachers around what is needed and we've got a government who's not really prepared to make the political decision needed to put the money into education and into the workforce."
Last month, thousands of secondary teachers picketed against the government's earlier offer that included three 1 percent pay rises over three years.
The government had called last month's strike a political stunt that was highly disruptive.
But Chris Abercrombie said the union genuinely engaged with the government to reach a settlement.
"We want to reach a settlement. That's what we want, that's the only reason to enter into bargaining is to get a settlement, and so that kind of rhetoric from the government isn't helpful," he said.
"Cos at the end of it, we both have the same goal to have a world class education system in Aotearoa New Zealand so we expect the government to be working with the sector to try and reach that goal."
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the offer on the table was strong, fair and addressed cost-of-living pressures, and teachers had an opportunity to get extra money in their pockets quickly.
The offer would have cost taxpayers an additional $361 million over four years and represented a pay bump of 4.7 percent within 12 months for teachers already at the top of the pay scale, he said.
Instead, he said the strikes impacted classrooms, student well-being and working parents.
He was urging the union to return to the bargaining table, saying negotiation, not escalation, was the way forward.
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