Education legislation later this year
3 March 2000
Education legislation later this year
Education Minister Trevor Mallard today outlined details of education legislation to be introduced to Parliament this year.
The legislative programme for education was approved by Cabinet this week and includes two major education amendment bills
Trevor Mallard said the first bill to be introduced within a few weeks would cover the end of bulk funding of teacher salaries; school enrolment schemes; school governance; membership of student associations and human rights issues.
“All schools will benefit from the additional funding and flexibility that only bulk-funded schools have enjoyed
"School governance will also be made more flexible, particularly where schools wish to combine their boards, or where communities want a system of governance that is tailor-made to their circumstances.
"The bill will tighten existing enrolment scheme law to ensure that any school enrolment schemes include clearly defined geographic zones. Every student within that zone will have the absolute right to attend their local school, and out-of-zone places will be determined by ballot.”
A further Amendment Bill to be introduced later this year would strengthen further aspects of the Education sector.
Issues covered in that bill will
include:
Teacher registration requirements and
the establishment of an Education Council
The
establishment of a Parent Advocacy Service
Processes to report student achievement
ENDS
PURPOSE OF EDUCATION AMENDMENT BILL NO.1
Background paper from the
Minister of Education, Hon. Trevor Mallard.
3 March
2000
This is the first of two proposed Education Amendment Bills this year. The Parliamentary Counsel Office has been instructed to start drafting the amendments to give effect to the following policies:
Strengthening
governance arrangements in schools
Fairer school
enrolment scheme arrangements
Abolition of bulk
funding
Membership and fees for tertiary
students associations
Minor amendments to human
rights provisions within education
legislation
Strengthening governance arrangements in schools
Boards of trustees play a critical role in the administration of state schools. The Government seeks to make certain boards can organise themselves more effectively by enabling them to control the turnover of trustees, by facilitating school mergers and combined boards. Consequently, the act will be amended to:
Allow for voluntary staggered board elections for half the parent representatives every eighteen months
Remove the restrictions on the number of school boards that may combine. This particularly – though not exclusively - relates to small schools, and schools undergoing EDI processes
Facilitate new board elections within three months of a school merger, so the board of the combined school represents all students and parents
The amendment will ensure all secondary school boards include a student trustee so that the student perspective is available to boards
Schools cannot
be left to flounder when a board is struggling to govern.
The Minister of Education will have enhanced powers of
intervention into the running of a board, in certain
circumstances. The circumstances are:
If the
Minister believes it is in the best interests of the school
When an ERO report highlights the need for
intervention, or
If 20% (or more) of the
parents request alternative governance arrangements by way
of a petition.
Fairer School Enrolment Schemes
Both the Alliance and Labour manifestos made a clear
commitment to ensuring children could attend their
neighbourhood school. The proposed amendment will guarantee
a child the right to attend a school for which they are in
the geographic zone.
Additional places at the
school – where capacity permits – will be distributed on the
basis of a ballot. This will prevent 'creaming' of
students.
Schools with a special character – that is integrated schools, kura kaupapa Maori, special schools and designated character schools - will be required to establish an enrolment scheme, but do not have to set a geographic zone or select out-of-zone students by ballot.
Abolition of Bulk Funding
Bulk-funding – known as the 'Fully Funded Option' - for teacher salaries will be abolished and existing fully-funded option agreements will be terminated through legislation.
Schools that have been in the scheme for over three years, or who entered the contract on or after 18 June 1998 will leave bulk funding at the beginning of the 2001 school year.
Schools that are yet to see out their first three years, but entered the scheme prior to 18 June 1998, will be able to choose to leave at the beginning of the 2001 school year, or at the FFO payment date closest to June 2001.
The 11 schools who are part of the Self Managed Payroll pilot will be returned to the centrally resourced payroll system on the closure of FFO.
Some discussions have already taken place with the Bulk Funded schools Association on the transition, and those discussions will continue.
Membership of
and Fees for Tertiary Students Associations
The Education (Tertiary Students' Assocation Voluntary Membership) Amendment Act 1998 will be repealed.
Students enrolled in an institution which has voluntary membership may vote to return to compulsory membership if the student body receives a petition signed by 10% of students, or by a vote of an existing students' association (so long as the association represents at least 50% of students).
Fees for membership of a students' association would be collected automatically by the tertiary provider on behalf of the association. The amendment will also cover how to achieve student representation on a Council.
Compliance with Human Rights Act
Some minor amendments are needed to ensure education legislation complies with the Human Rights Act, predominantly on the grounds of age. This includes parts of the Education Act, Private Schools Conditional Integration Act, Music Teachers Act, and Royal Foundation for the Blind Act.
ENDS