(You say that 'Nobody outside the Department of Education knew what was coming up' as regards the STB. Yet my understanding is that the PPTA and a lot of other people were aware that the government was going to increase tertiary bursaries at the expense of allowances for teachers college students. While it was true-that the government would not entertain negotiations on the STB scheme (preferring to call them consultations) there is no doubt in my mind that PPTA and NZEI could have been far more active in championing the cause of teacher trainees than they were. The lack of meaningful representation of teacher trainees by the PPTA and the NZEI has meant that the government has been able to successfully ignore the demands of student teachers on wages and conditions. The large and well staffed PPTA has done far less for student teachers than the small and poorly staffed STANZ. It is time that STANZ was recognised as the sole representative of teachers in training. Only when this is the case will teachers in training start getting a decent deal from their representatives. — ed.)