16.12.25. A Facebook discussion I had with friends & family regarding the sacking of NZ Literacy Resource teachers who were formerly designated Resource Teacher Literacy (RT Lit). An RT Lit was a specialist teacher who visited schools to teach children who battled with language learning difficulties. An RT Lit also liaised with parents, teachers & school management. Each RT Lit had a specific area in NZ where they taught. For nine years my wife Leah was the RT Lit in South Canterbury, NZ.
Facebook:
Mark: This is how NZ National govt deals with dedicated teachers: In February 2025 Leah heard via the media that she would be sacked together with 200 odd English & Maori Literacy Resource teachers throughout NZ. Later school managers were informed of the sacking. Only in November did Leah receive an official letter from her base school's Board of Trustees informing Leah she was sacked!
Meanwhile Leah scrambled to secure different teaching posts in two primary schools in Pleasant Point & Timaru. From 2026 she will be using her Learning Disability teaching skills & Literacy teaching skills only in those two schools.
For the record: For nine years Leah was Resource Teacher Literacy for Southern Canterbury primary schools, a vast area involving intermittent advising & teaching in 40 rural & small town schools requiring huge mileage using her own car for transport to various towns: Along SH1: Winchester, Temuka, Timaru, St Andrews, Makikihi. Inland towns: Carew, Peel Forest, Woodbury, Geraldine, Pleasant Point (where we reside), Waimate, Waihao Downs. Alpine towns: Cannington, Albury, Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Twizel, Mt Cook.
Of course we will be voting Labour in the next election!
Anne: All down to money, no thought for the teachers or how this will affect the children who will need extra help for a reason.
Mark: Agreed. Some vague new Coordinator teacher posts have been concocted to be introduced over coming years. Principals are battling to fill ordinary teaching posts! Never mind specialist teaching posts like Leah's. Kids, parents & teachers needing specialist help are just left hanging in the breeze...
John: This just makes me mad.
Mark: Near the end of Leah's career too. Many experts in the same boat. Minimum requirement for Leah's ex job was an Hons degree.
Marge: It is difficult to understand the thinking behind this decision. In no time all the years behind Leah's dedicated work will be lost.
Mark: True. And Erica Stanford is in charge of the present Ministry of Education. Her damages will need years to repair.
Jane: Shame on them! That's a long time with uncertainty hanging over one's head. Glad she's found a job.
Mark: Yes Leah is so good at her job, principals were lining up to re-employ her in other positions. Leah has built lots of cred in the district.
Jane: I fully believe it.
Jake: The current NZ government's decision for this has nothing to do with the greater good of education for the youth of the nation. This leaves thousands of young children without valuable resources to help them in the development stage of their lives when they need it most.
It's basically a financial decision to fulfill promises about tax cuts. If they consider the education of children who could potentially be the people running the country in the future "wasteful spending" makes me sick.
It's a disgraceful decision especially considering the fact that it was made without any input from teachers and parents of children directly affected by the outcome. I'm really glad Leah has managed to find new work & she will still be using her unique skills to help out the children at the two schools she will be working at, but it makes me sad to know that so many children are not so lucky as the ones at the schools where she will be working...
Mark: Well said. There will be much whining in NZ when teachers find they wont have the support they need next year. The Ministry of Education led by Erica Stanford has been deceitful, causing misery all round. Leah's support of schools & her Literacy colleagues were some of the best...
James: That's what happens when we vote populist leaders who want to run the country like a business, it's all about money. I agree with you, National has made no friends with me. It will be nice to have a party that puts NZ before their own party.
Mark: Yes, the Nats went through the farce of "consulting" with teachers about Literacy needs, but the MoE had already decided that Literacy needs would be tampered with. i.e. Trying to fix the only thing which is not broken regarding Literacy support for needy kids, their parents & battling teachers. The MoE ignored a teachers' report asking for MORE Literacy teacher support, like Leah, not less! The MoE had already made up its penny-pinching mind to obliterate Literacy support & sack support teachers for Literacy.
James: And they're surprised the tax revenue is lower than expected after deleting so many workers through the govt agencies...
May: Here in South Africa we have to retire at 65. Fortunately for me they couldn't find a decent replacement, so I am still teaching again for the first term next year.
Mark: Not the same in NZ. Some teachers continue teaching well into their seventies here...
Peter: Bloody disgraceful!!!!!
Alwyn: No doubt Leah is good at her job and we are all pleased she is still employed. The new curriculum will enable kids to get the basics of English earlier so they won't need extra tuition. This a win already improving literacy. Likewise with maths. Most teachers and civil servants vote for Labour and have not much knowledge of economics and servicing the high debt created by the last government. I endorse the new curriculum and forsee a decent outcome of an educated nation not a dumbed down unemployable bunch of numpties. Well done Erica!
Mark: Whatever the curriculum, old or Erica-new, if you discourage specialist support & extra tuition for battlers, whether it's for neurodivergent kids, or dyslexic kids, or generalist teachers battling to teach them, you will be dumbing down languages & maths further & allowing language & maths illiterates. Prior to sacking Resource teachers of Literacy, schools were consulted. The official consultation report showed overwhelming support to increase rather than eliminate Literacy specialists. Just Google RT Lit Consultation and the report will be listed for you to read.
Mary: As a recently retired SEND teacher and outreach specialist advisor in the UK, I agree 100%. I don't know much about NZ politics, but this idea sounds like they really don't care about those with additional needs...
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont
