Anna Hamilton is leading the charge against the planned fee increase at the Teaching Council, but she says ditching the fee altogether isn't the answer.
The Teaching Council is proposing to more than double the amount it charges teachers for registration starting from next year, so the independent organisation can be financially self-sustaining.
Ms Hamilton organised a petition against the proposal, which has gained more than 30,000 signatures and will be presented to Parliament today.
The early childhood teacher says the fee increase should've been better planned by the council instead of dumping it as a lump sum.
"My understanding is that they've had five years to become self-sufficient, knowing that they'd need to get the funds from other sources," she told TVNZ 1's Breakfast this morning.
"It's not really fair in a short time to expect teachers to pay for that shortfall.
"My concern is that through budgeting and other measures, they would have been able to say before this point that they were going to be in this position."
Under the Teaching Council's proposal, the fees will be increased to $157 per annum and teaching certification will also need to be renewed annually, another cost for workers.
It's currently set to take effect next February.
"Teachers are not hugely paid, particularly early childhood teachers, relieving teachers, people who are perhaps surviving on one income," Ms Hamilton says.
"This is going to be a huge hit for them financially. I know lots of teachers already have to budget to pay for the teacher registration fee.
"This is a cost that's now going to become a cost every year and it's now going to be twice that cost, it's massive."
The Teaching Council has faced backlash after announcing the fee will double for teachers this year. (Source: Other)
The National Party has vowed to scrap the fee altogether if it gets into Government.
Today deputy leader Nikki Kaye reiterated that promise, saying it's currently a "terrible time" for people to have extra costs.
"So many teachers have been the heroes of Covid, they have worked incredibly long hours. It's not the time to be increasing costs to people."
The policy would cost $16 million, Ms Kaye says.
But Ms Hamilton isn't convinced that's the best solution.
"I think teachers are happy to pay a fair amount for the service they're receiving," she says.
"It would be great if the Government did look at contributing more so that it was less of a fee for teachers."
The Teaching Council deals with teacher certification and looks at making sure teachers are meeting the required standards, Ms Hamilton says.
It also provides leadership training, funded by the Ministry of Education.
Addresing the fee rise earlier this year, Teaching Council chief executive Lesley Hoskin said it was essential to upholding the quality of teaching.
As an independent statutory body, it's not funded by the Government, she said.
"I am acknowledging that it's a big jump, but that's because of the 10 years we haven't been increasing fees."
In a further statement, it said it consulted with the profession earlier this year and asked for feedback - which 23 per cent of 105,000 teachers did.
"The Teaching Council Governing Board used the feedback to guide their decision-making, which resulted in moving to a smaller more regular payment for certification. Unfortunately, no other funding streams were identified during consultation and therefore the fee had to increase.
"Throughout the past five years the Council has been implementing changes to be as cost-effective and efficient as possible. For example: the development and launch of our online systems, which automates and replaces our old paper-based processes and strengthening in-house legal resources to reduce the use of expensive external lawyers for routine tasks relating to teacher misconduct."
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