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North Shore principals are continuing to boycott the Government's Schools Plus plan despite meeting Education Minister Chris Carter yesterday.
Mr Carter and the principals group agreed the meeting in Auckland was positive and said they were due to meet again in a month.
The heads of 15 North Shore high schools wrote an open letter to Mr Carter last week withdrawing support for the major Government education initiative until their worries about funding were recognised.
It sparked at least 15 responses in support from schools nationwide.
"Our position is that we are chronically underfunded and that there needs to be positive action to address that," said Northcote College principal Vicki Barrie, a member of the group. "The first step was to have the minister listen to our concerns and so, in that respect, it feels like a positive move but we await the response."
Mr Carter said he stood by his comments that there wasn't a blank taxpayers' cheque for education or any area of Government.
He said possibilities of shifting resources from one area to another were discussed. "There are certainly better ways that we could deliver existing resources and that's the sort of positive conversation we can have," said Mr Carter.
Information technology and support staff were cost pressures for schools. "We all agreed that the kids in the schools were our top and only priority," said Mr Carter.
Education spending overall has risen from $5.7 billion to $9.8 billion since 1999.
