A $359 million push for higher pupil achievement heads the differences on education policy between National and other parties, writes political editor Dene MacKenzie.
National is on its own when it comes to education policy.
Education Minister Hekia Parata is determinedly pushing ahead with her $359million plan to raise pupil achievement by building quality and consistency of teaching and leadership across the sector.
Raising pupil achievement was one of the Government's top priorities.
When she announced the policy in June, Ms Parata said unions and groups representing teachers, principals, boards of trustees and others in the sector had worked closely with the Ministry of Education to produce a report demonstrating ''practical thinking''.
But her pleasure in having the working group up and running to design the programme to ensure it was implemented next year was dimmed when the primary school teachers union, the NZEI, called the programme unacceptable and unworkable.
The union also said the policy lacked direct benefit for children.
Labour education spokesman Chris Hipkins said teachers and principals were willing to turn down pay rises of up to $40,000 a year because they did not believe in the policy.
But while the NZEI walked away from the Government's flagship policy, secondary school teachers agreed on an interim deal over it late last month.
The Post Primary Teachers Association, representing about 18,000 secondary school teachers, reached an interim agreement on how the teaching roles would work.
The association said if further work on the initiative led to a settlement with the Government, it would still be subject to a membership vote which would not happen until the fourth term, which begins on October13.
Ms Parata said the association had shown good faith throughout the process.
Prime Minister John Key signalled he might legislate to force schools to take part in the scheme, which included greater collaboration and new teaching and leadership roles.
Mr Hipkins said the Government was so desperate to keep its dead-in-the-water expert teachers policy alive it had refused ruling out forcing schools to participate.
''Rather than acknowledging teachers' concerns, the Prime Minister suggested their opposition was partisan because it didn't come from the Labour Party. That is simply childish.''
Schools already had had National Standards, Novopay and charter schools forced on them, he said.
In contrast, Labour's plan to lower class sizes had been welcomed by parents and teachers alike who knew smaller class sizes were better for learning. That would be a far better use of such significant taxpayer funding.
Under a Labour government, teachers would have more one-to-one time with each child, have more time to improve their own skills - and they would be better supported in their professional learning and development.
''Class sizes do matter. Ask any parent and they will tell you they want their kids in smaller classes. Increasing teacher quality and smaller class sizes are not mutually exclusive.''
Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said education remained the most effective route out of poverty but poverty and inequality acted as a barrier to learning.
''Our proposal aims to tackle the serious effects of growing inequality on children's educational achievement by establishing on-site community hubs in low-decile schools.''
The policy would cluster health, welfare and other support services in decile 1-4 schools to mitigate the impact of poverty and inequality on a child's learning, she said.
The Greens would equip low-decile schools as hubs, or one-stop shops, which functioned as the anchor for a range of health, education and welfare services and offered cultural and other opportunities.
New Zealand First, a potential coalition partner for both Labour and National, has an extensive education policy but at the top of the list is repealing the legislation allowing the creation of charter schools - something National agreed with Act New Zealand as part of the supply and confidence agreement in 2011.
Much of NZ First's policy involves reviews.
