Promising start to Funding Review

Promising start to Funding Review

Source: NZSTA

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The New Zealand School Trustees’ Association is welcoming the Minister of Education’s announcement of the next phase in the funding review as a promising start.

"The Minister’s announcement is very much what we have been telling our members to expect. We are pleased that this process has been so transparent, in spite of the extra anxiety that level of candour has created for some sector groups" says NZSTA President, Lorraine Kerr.

"It was quite a courageous move for the Minister to be so up front about the possible policy options at such an early stage, and we appreciate her willingness to have the courageous conversations with the sector so we could deal with the options openly. It’s a very promising start."

NZSTA welcomes the Minister’s acknowledgement that every child has different needs, that principals and boards know the learning needs of their students better than the Ministry, and that our funding system needs to offer boards and principals the flexibility to use funding in ways that will best meet the needs of every student in our school.

Minister Parata and officials began consulting with sector groups before the policy proposals had been finalised, a much earlier stage than has been usual in the past. This has meant that the sector has had a big influence in shaping the direction of the policy.

NZSTA has been one of the sector groups represented on the funding review Advisory group, and endorsed the Advisory Group report advising against pursuing the global funding option when policy options are developed next year. The Advisory Group will continue to provide sector input to the review as work begins on developing the new funding system.

The Minister’s announcement reflects a consensus among sector groups in favour of destigmatising equity funding by doing away with school deciles, and against the introduction of global funding.

ENDS

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