Carol Parker

Carol Parker’s dedication to creating and maintaining an education system in the best interests of children was limitless.

One anecdote describes how she worked until midnight in Wellington on an urgent submission to government, then drove home to Inglewood so that she could be in her classroom in the morning for her students.

Her commitment and energy were formidable, beginning as a classroom teacher, then as an assistant principal and deputy principal. She was elected to NZEI’s National Executive in 1982, having been active on numerous committees in her beloved Taranaki. She was elected Vice-President in 1989 and the following year became NZEI’s fifth woman President.

During her term, she gave priority to developing parent-teacher partnerships, strengthening the participation of women in NZEI and the profession, enhancing the professional standing of teachers in the community, and promoting a vigorous response to the then government’s destructive industrial regime.

She was also a powerful advocate for special education and for the Treaty of Waitangi, which she believed ought to be a part of everyday life in schools.

In the turbulent years of the Picot Report and Tomorrow’s Schools, her organising abilities came to the fore. In 1991, she convened a Special Meeting of NZEI – only the fourth in its then 108-year history. It reached an agreement on working with other education unions and organisations, including the Council of Trade Unions, to promote and protect New Zealand education from further attack.

Amidst the ongoing committee and campaign work, Parker still found to time to work with others on her love of banners. The first one she organised, “State Schools Are Great Schools” was spray painted late at night and hung from the 13^th floor of the NZEI building. Her final banner, “Shoe Size Shouldn’t Matter”, featured Parker’s expertise with sequins and appliqué and took pride of place in all the parades organised for the pay parity campaign.

In 1994, having been made an Associate and then a Fellow of NZEI, Parker became a member of NZEI staff, in the newly created role of Wellington Regional Secretary. She put into practice the motto expressed at her inauguration as president in 1991 – “NZEI members working for members working for education.” She retired to Taranaki in 2011, and died in 2014.