Hundreds of thousands of school children will get a day off school when about 50-thousand school and kindergarten teachers join forces in a mega-strike next week.
Members of the Post Primary Teachers Association and the Educational Institute say the Education Ministry's offer of a $6000 pay rise over two years is not good enough.
Parents told Checkpoint they support the teachers but a strike will add to an already disrupted school year.
Here's our education correspondent, John Gerritsen.