ECE Update - David Seymour Gives ECE Teachers the Gift of Wage Chaos

Dark Satire from Aotearoa’s Policy Junkyard

In a bold step backwards, Associate Education Minister and self-styled freedom-fighter David Seymour has thrown New Zealand’s early childhood education (ECE) workforce under a clapped-out school bus with the engine running.

As of 1 July, ECE centres participating in the pay parity scheme will no longer need to pay new teachers based on qualifications or experience. Instead, they’ll be allowed to offer whatever wage they deem appropriate, or affordable, depending on which word makes them feel more virtuous while underpaying qualified educators.

Seymour, who appears to believe the free market can also toilet-train toddlers, insists this move will “liberate centres from inflexible government-imposed costs”. Critics argue it liberates them from the burden of having qualified staff at all.

Once a sector clinging to the hope of professional respect and stable income, ECE is now just a 50-piece puzzle missing the corners. Teachers who studied for years and racked up student debt can now enjoy the privilege of negotiating their pay with centres currently operating on a prayer, a spreadsheet and the same budget as a bouncy castle hire company.

“It’s a real race-to-the-bottom moment,” said one educator. “Only this time, the government’s giving us the shoes.”

Zane McCarthy from NZEI Te Riu Roa called it “a betrayal”,  a word that feels quaint when describing a policy that effectively says: “Nice degree you’ve got there. Now go beg for an hourly rate that doesn’t require two flatmates and a night shift.”

Labour and the Greens were predictably outraged, which Seymour likely took as confirmation he’s done the right thing. Labour’s Jan Tinetti called the change “devastating.” The Greens’ Benjamin Doyle called it “a kick in the teeth.” Seymour, channelling his inner Thatcher, likely called it “Thursday.”

Under this new arrangement, teachers will now be valued on “practical skills”, which is neoliberal for “how much abuse you can take before crying in the break room.” Because what better way to support a child’s early learning than by ensuring their teacher can’t afford to eat lunch?

Parents, of course, will be delighted. Nothing screams “high-quality care” like a revolving door of burnt-out educators earning less than a junior barista with a chin piercing and no diploma.

So here we are. While the rest of the world inches toward recognising the critical value of early childhood educators, New Zealand’s government has decided they’re worth approximately $26.50, a voucher to The Warehouse, and a patronising smile.

Welcome to the new ECE sector: underpaid, undervalued, and just flexible enough to break.

📢 Government Press Release

Office of the Associate Minister for Economic Flexibilisation, Pay Optimisation & Reality Restructuring FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION TO PEOPLE WHO ALREADY AGREE

Re: Empowering Sectoral Wage Fluidity in Early Childhood Development Frameworks

Minister David Seymour today announced a transformative deregulatory initiative designed to enhance pedagogical price discovery across the ECE landscape. From 1 July, early learning centres opting into the equitable autonomy pay scheme (formerly known as pay parity) will be granted latitude to individually calibrate remuneration onboarding trajectories for pedagogical professionals entering the sector.

“This is about trust,” said Seymour. “Trusting employers to determine market-reflective compensation packages based on real-world operational insights rather than bureaucratically imposed matrixes of historical credentialism.”

This policy reflects the coalition’s unwavering commitment to wage decentralisation, talent mobility, and reducing cost-induced barriers to childcare consumer accessibility.

The government remains committed to valuing educators,  just not in a way that involves money.

✉️ Letter to the Editor – From an Organisation

To the Editor,

As the Chief Executive of a nationwide ECE provider with over 60 staff across six centres, I feel compelled to express the shock, betrayal, and fury felt by our sector.

For over a decade, we have worked tirelessly to improve teacher retention, upskill staff, and restore dignity to a profession that underpins every other career in this country. We finally had a foothold with pay parity, helping us attract qualified teachers and give them a reason to stay.

Now, with one ministerial memo, that stability has been gutted.

This decision is a false economy. It will drive qualified teachers away, widen inequalities between centres, and create a two-tier system where those who care for our youngest citizens are reduced to bargaining chips.

We don’t want to underpay our people. But we also can’t charge parents more without pricing them out entirely. Once again, we are being asked to perform miracles with broken tools.

If we lose our teachers, we lose our future. And if the government can’t see that, then perhaps it’s time parents, teachers, and citizens showed them at the ballot box.

— Amanda Russell CEO, Te Mātauranga Mokopuna Trust

✉️ Letter to the Editor – From a Teacher

Dear Editor,

I’ve just finished wiping noses, tying shoes, comforting a sobbing three-year-old, cleaning up paint from a wall, mediating a sandpit war, and explaining to a four-year-old why you can’t flush Lego.

I do this job because I love children, because I want to give them a good start in life. I studied. I trained. I sacrificed and now, David Seymour has decided my qualifications don’t count.

Apparently, it’s fairer for my pay to be set by how “practical” I am, never mind my student loan, never mind the fact that I already live with two flatmates and can’t afford to replace the soles of my work shoes.

This decision doesn’t value skill. It values desperation. And that’s what we’ll end up with in our centres - desperate people, just scraping by, trying to smile for the children while crying in the car on the way home.

If the government won’t value us, we need the rest of Aotearoa to stand with us. We’re not asking for luxuries. Just a living wage. And a little respect.

— Jess M. ECE Teacher, Christchurch