Schools go broke under Labour

Steve Maharey might be aspiring to sainthood by offering to ‘die in a ditch’ over who owns school buildings, but he’d be better off turning his attention to the large number of schools that, under Labour, continue to go broke, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

“The facts are that there are 105 schools with an operating deficit of more than $100,000 dollars, up from 69 in 2005. Only 28% of schools have not been in deficit in the past three years, while 11% of schools have been in deficit in each of the past three years.

“A significant 40% of primary schools and 50% of secondary schools were in deficit in 2006 and more than 72% of schools have been in deficit in at least one of the past three years.

“Parents have to dig deeper into their pockets to keep schools afloat. Last year, they contributed close to $54 million more to run their children’s schools. Ministry figures say schools accepted more than half a billion dollars in ‘locally raised funds’ in 2006.

“The funding cuts as a result of decile changes, which shaved $2.5 million from secondary schools and an estimated $8 million from primary and composite schools, will make it even harder for them to balance their books.

“The Minister is currently so blinded by ideology that he’s failing to address the major problems in his portfolio.”

Ends

© Scoop Media