Mean Mallard Makes School Beg

Tuesday 18 May 2004

Deborah Coddington - Press Releases

ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington today accused Education Minister Trevor Mallard of making a pauper out of a decile two Auckland school by forcing it to beg for extra funding to pay for routine building repairs and maintenance costs.

"Fruitvale School wrote to the Minister claiming that its operational funding was `ludicrously inadequate'. Rotting fences, quagmire footpaths, cracked concrete and dilapidated structures were cited as needing upgrades.

"The school's concerns appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Mr Mallard is ignoring the problem in the hope that it will go away - but it won't. Labour's financial mismanagement of schools has been highlighted by a recent report showing that over 1,000 schools ran operating deficits in 2002.

"The way forward is to break the State monopoly and fund the students, not the schools. Until that happens, the gap between the `haves' and `have-nots' will continue to grow, and schools like Fruitvale will have to wait and wait," Miss Coddington said.

ENDS

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