Tens of thousands of teachers will march out of the classroom and into the streets on Thursday as they go on strike.
So why has it reached this point and what's needed to bring this action to an end?
Paul Heyward, from Auckland University's Faculty of Education and Social Work, told Lloyd Burr teaching is becoming a significantly less popular career path for young Kiwis.
"The numbers are dropping," Heyward said.
"Recruitment is a real issue because graduates are not coming into initial teacher education because they see the salary and they see the regular negative press around teaching and they don't enter it.
"Once we get them in, retention is an issue."
He believes there has been an 'erosion' in the status of teachers over the past few decades, which is reflected in their pay and contributing to the decrease in the popularity of the occupation.
"Back in the 1970's it was widely reported that a back-bencher MP was on the same pay rate as a basic scale secondary school teacher…that's clearly not the case now.
"We have been through a huge range of reforms over the last 30 years that I think have seen the service professions fall down the pecking order as people look for more well-remunerated work."
Heyward told Burr while pay is a significant part of what the teachers are looking for, there is more to it than just money.
"Teachers are looking not just for pay but for learning support in terms of teacher assistance and they are looking for time to be able to put into keeping up with professional development.
"There is a commitment to not only the learners but to parents and whanau, to the profession they are working with and to society as a whole.
"It is a complex profession….you are dealing with the emotional, social and physical development of learners."
Listen to the full interview between Auckland University Faculty of Education and Social Work Paul Heyward and Lloyd Burr above.
You can also download the full interview on the Lloyd Burr Live podcast, and listen on the go.
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