Leighton Watson: Senior Lecturer of maths and statistics on PPTA members are voting on teacher pay offer

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Sep 8, 2025 · 3m · transcript

New comparisons show teacher salaries have plummeted relative to the minimum wage.

PPTA members are voting on a new Government pay offer, while primary teachers have decided to reject their latest offer.

Canterbury University maths lecturer Leighton Watson's done a comparison of teachers' pay with the minimum wage.

He told Ryan Bridge a beginning teacher was paid $33 thousand in 1999, and now they get $64 thousand.

Watson says it seems like a great increase, but if they got paid the same now, relative to the minimum wage, it would be $100 thousand.

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