Stephanie Arthur-Worsop: Decile ratings lead to funding battle

Education Minister Hekia Parata needs to proactively address and resolve the "clumsy" system soon, says Arthur-Worsop. Photo / NZME.

It seems the ever-increasing costs of running a school and the struggle to get funding is an uphill battle for educators.

In November the Ministry of Education reviewed the decile ratings of all New Zealand schools. It was happy news for principals whose decile rating decreased as it meant a rise in their annual funding. However, for those that found themselves with a higher decile, it became a question of how they were going to make up for the funding they stood to lose.

In Tuesday's Rotorua Daily Post I spoke to the four local schools that appealed their decile ratings. All went up one or more deciles in the 2014 review, losing thousands of dollars in funding.

The results of the appeal were split, with two schools successfully going down a decile and two schools retaining their increased decile. St Michael's Catholic Primary School, who were unsuccessful in their appeal, have lost $15,000 a year in funding.

Electricity, rent and other bills must be paid so where will the school have to make up that loss of funding? Staff, I've been told.

It's a hard truth that not only are we talking about cutting people's jobs, but we are cutting jobs that directly influence the students' education. You have to wonder when the Government will consider rectifying this decile funding problem. Education minister Hekia Parata has said the decile funding system was well-intentioned but also complicated and "really clumsy".

It is abundantly clear that whether a school is a decile one or a decile 10, without that funding, it is a real struggle to cover costs.

Ms Parata needs to proactively address and resolve the "clumsy" system soon because when a child's education is compromised, everybody loses.