Katherine Rich MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

4 December 2007

Carter does screeching reversal on decile funding

Chris Carter’s announcement this afternoon that he has had a change of heart over the lead-in time for decile funding changes reeks of political expediency, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

“National has been calling for a longer lead-in time for months. The Labour Government’s plan to give schools only three months to compensate for dramatic funding cuts was always unworkable.

“After major economic changes in some communities, some schools have been facing significant decile hikes. One school I spoke to jumped from two to five, leading to a major reduction in funding of some $53,000.

“The last Minister of Education told the country he was ‘pissed off’’ about the way the decile changes had been handled, but washed his hands of any responsibility, choosing to do nothing about it.

“Chris Carter’s belated revelation today that there is indeed a case to help schools out in the transition phase is proof that Labour made a complete hash of the changes.

“Labour has put schools through months of unnecessary stress as they struggled to find a way to find the funding to continue operating next year.

“Chris Carter’s back-tracking today has more to do with rescuing votes than rescuing schools.”

ENDS

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