KEY POINTS:
Occasionally, schools may be their own worst enemy in matters of funding. An Education Review Office national report released last year found some had spent money to keep up with neighbouring schools and win pupils. They went into debt to do so, a risk that paid off only if roll numbers increased. Such ploys are probably the domain of a small minority. Most schools, however, clearly see their funding situation as an issue of considerable alarm. As much has been confirmed by the decision of 15 North Shore schools to boycott the Government's Schools Plus initiative.
The schools, which include Rangitoto College, the country's largest, Takapuna Grammar and Northcote College, say they will not support the policy until their worries about secondary school funding are recognised. In an open letter to Education Minister Chris Carter, the schools' principals detailed Government innovations they claimed were not fully funded and had increased pressure on already stretched finances. The list of 21 included pandemic planning, maintaining electronic pupil management systems, and running the healthy lifestyle programme Mission On. Their stand struck an immediate chord with other principals, and support flowed in from schools as far apart as Whangarei and Dunedin.
Such defiance was always going to be a red rag to Mr Carter. Education, like health, is an area for which there is unlimited demand. No matter how much a government spends, there will always be more medical treatments or learning experiences worthy of funding. Predictably, the minister fired back a salvo of statistics, which claimed, among other things, that overall education spending had risen from $5.7 billion to $9.98 billion since 1999. Mr Carter also noted that the Budget had included a 5 per cent, or $171.6 million, increase over four years for operational funding, which pays for the day-to-day running of schools, excluding teacher salaries.
Such statistics go only so far. They do not assess how effectively money has been spent. Nor do they factor in the likes of inflation, skyrocketing IT costs, the increasing difficulty of attracting international pupils to bolster school coffers, and the probable drop-off in financial support from the community in tough economic times. The latter is a matter of no small moment, given that an analysis of 10 North Shore schools suggested they raised 51 per cent of their running costs, on average, from community sources, such as family "donations" and fundraising.
Nor did Mr Carter's statistics divulge anything about the financial impact of the Schools Plus programme, a major initiative that aims to keep New Zealanders in education or approved vocational training until they are 18. The principals know it was conceived in haste early this year and that feedback on it is being analysed by an independent researcher. But details of how it will work, and how it will be funded, are not expected to be revealed until the researcher's report is completed. Mr Carter has said the Government is committed to fully resourcing the policy. But the North Shore principals, drawing on recent memory, clearly believe this will be another initiative for which they will be expected to pick up much of the tab.
The minister says some schools are being "quite disingenuous" in their claims about how much money the community is having to raise. But that community has, for several years, been concerned that such money is now an integral part of funding, not money used by schools to pay for "extras". The North Shore principals are saying they have had enough of such matters being taken for granted. They are to be congratulated for placing the issue in the public arena and demanding recognition of it. Increased awareness of a problem can only generate a greater resolve to find a solution.
