Some Auckland schools will get a boost in funding after being given lower decile ratings - despite booming property prices in surrounding areas.

Students are now less likely to have a male teacher, with many going through their early education years without ever encountering a male role model.

Incidents such as the "Roast Busters" case show sex education needs to be more than a component of the health and physical education curriculum.

A primary school lost more than 55 teachers in four years - but got a government inspector's tick of approval.

Class disruptions and a lack of exposure to algebra and geometry are just some issues being linked to NZ slipping from 13th to 22nd in OECD maths ratings.

The Ministry of Education has begun informing schools of their new decile ratings and at least one Auckland school will need to rely more on parent fundraising as a result.

Plenty of improvement but still much to work on - the New Zealand schooling sector has been given its annual report card.

Teachers entitled to 24 months' maternity leave can take another two years off if they fall pregnant again while on leave, in a decision called a "win for women".

A scheme in which millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on sending students to private schools needs to be assessed to see if it is delivering results, an education union says.

Fewer children starting school can speak in sentences, prompting an investigation by education chiefs.

Education Minister Hekia Parata is in negotiation in the hope of opening more charter schools next year, possibly allowing tertiary institutions to run them.

Schools are being made to re-enrol students they had kicked out for bad behaviour including carrying weapons, physical assaults and drug use.

An organisation headed by broadcaster and former politician Willie Jackson is in negotiations to open a charter school.

A former principal and her husband who scammed $30,000 from a decile one school have abandoned their appeal after a judge told them they may be jailed.

The number of young school children achieving or bettering the national standard in reading has fallen or flat-lined in half of the country's regions.

The Serious Fraud Office says it has found no criminal offending at Te Pataka Ohanga, the subsidiary of the Kohanga Reo National Trust.

How much graduates in different fields of study can expect to earn has been revealed. So what should school students be choosing to study?

A teacher at a now defunct school created a "truly horrific environment" for pupils, including threatening to cut off boys' penises, a Teachers Council decision reveals.

A complaint against a daycare centre is being investigated after a 2-year-old managed to wrap five rubber bands around her neck.

A principal and her husband who admitted siphoning more than $30,000 from a decile one school in South Auckland have been sentenced to home detention.

A former teacher at one of the country's top secondary schools has appeared in court charged with committing an indecent act at the school.

One of New Zealand's first charter schools is urgently searching for teachers and has turned to outside help for lessons just over a month after opening its doors.

Editorial: To obtain the right answers, it is necessary to ask the right questions. Asking the wrong questions invites only obfuscation or a muddying of the waters.

The distraught parents of an infant who needed hospital treatment after being repeatedly bitten by a 2-year-old boy at a preschool.

A principal and her husband siphoned off more than $30,000 from a decile one school in South Auckland and splashed out on themselves.

There will be less chance of dodgy teachers resurfacing at other schools under legislation to be introduced in Parliament today, Education Minister Hekia Parata says.