NZEI Te Riu Roa is urging that proposed staffing cuts to Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs) be paused immediately, warning that reducing specialist support will harm the most vulnerable learners.
In a letter to the Minister of Education, NZEI Te Riu Roa National Secretary Stephanie Mills called for an urgent moratorium on plans to slash 10.5 Full-Time Teacher Equivalent (FTTE) positions for the 2027 school year.
The education union warns these cuts could disrupt support across more than 15 RTLB clusters – over a third of total clusters nationwide – at a time when the number of learners with complex needs is growing.
NZEI Te Riu Roa is also urging the government to staff the RTLB workforce for next year at 2026 levels and work with the sector toward a funding formula that reflects the true level of need.
The move has also sparked criticism from educators, who see the planned reduction as counterproductive.
“With a growing number of tamariki requiring specialised support, removing frontline expertise will adversely impact our classrooms and teachers,” says Tute Mila, Arakura School Principal and NZEI Te Riu Roa Principals’ Council member.
“Every day, our teachers rely on RTLBs to provide tailored support for students with complex learning and behaviour needs. Our teachers are already at capacity; removing this support will push them past their limits and leave our most vulnerable tamariki without the specialist support they need.”
RTLBs are trained specialist teachers who help schools and kura meet a broad range of learning, wellbeing, and behaviour-related needs. They work with individual students and their whānau, groups of students, teachers, early intervention specialists, learning support coordinators, special education needs coordinators, or groups of schools.