The Maori council of the NZEI teacher union says the Government's national standards in reading, writing and maths will harm Maori children.
More than 200 Maori teachers attending a Te Reo Areare hui in Rotorua have voted unanimously to support the union's call for a trial of the standards in mainstream schools.
They say 80% of Maori children are in English-language schools.
Council spokesperson Laures Park says the standards will harm Maori children because they have not been written from a Maori worldview.
She says Maori teachers need to be involved in a trial and further development of the standards.
Ms Park told Waatea News that Maori parents are already getting school reports saying their tamariki had failed to meet the national standards, but that they are getting no help on how to deal with that judgment.