Black leather shoes mandatory at many New Zealand schools in winter are causing harm to children's feet, say podiatrists.

Researcher Hana Turner's reports of racist attitudes among her fellow teachers show prejudice is as deeply woven into our school system as ever.

Parents are raising more than $357 million a year in donations and fundraising to support the "free" schooling system.

A Government-funded survey, published today, finds our primary and intermediate schools are in 'mixed health'.

In a distinguished career as a top corporate lawyer Derek Dallow was involved in his fair share of multi-million-dollar projects.

Children risk losing out on the benefits of millions of dollars being spent on technology in classrooms, teachers say.

Phillipstown principal Tony Simpson said the community was "very disappointed" at today's news, after the decision to combine Phillipstown & Woolston School to create a 465-child super-school, which comes as part of the Government's $1 billion shake-up of post-earthquake Christchurch schools.

Primary teachers’ union NZEI said tonight its members were not happy about having the new $360 million school leadership package sprung on them.

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.

Finding the right school is not an easy task. There are many complications, not least the relevance of data available on each school, and ongoing debate about the value of the qualifications offered.

International students are paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend our state schools - funding that is crucial to lessons, teacher development and other support for locals.

New Zealand's most at-risk school students should receive similar funding as those who are attending controversial charter schools, those involved in alternative education say.

Looking over the curriculum for Bible in Schools, what is most striking is how innocuous it is, writes Dr Paul Moon. It makes its critics appear self-righteous and doctrinaire.

An estimated 10,300 new entrants are just starting school - and beginning to learn the "three Rs". And their parents will soon have to learn to grapple with the fourth R: Reports.

About 30 boys are being pulled out of class and made to sit in the school hall while staff at Whangarei Boys' High School chase up outstanding fees.

Thousands of Kiwi parents have a new shopping dilemma this year - they will need to buy a tablet or other digital device for their child, writes Diana Clement.

The leadership of New Zealand schools has been overhauled, with the Government creating new roles including 'executive principals' and 'expert teachers'. The change was announced today by Prime Minister John Key in a state of the nation-style speech in Auckland

A student learning expert has suggested a top-level review of the schooling system after international testing showed 15-year-olds had slipped in maths, science and reading.

PISA envy is rife at the moment as we find NZ has slipped. This should be a shot of reality and force us not to be complacent with the status quo.

Editorial: It is highly appropriate that NZ officials have been to Asia to identify the key points of the successful programmes there. But implementing their findings on what works will require political will.

Should we worry about our ranking? No, not per se, writes Dr Fiona Ell. Focusing on one number, one position in the race, who our neighbours on the list are is missing the point.

New international test results in reading, science and maths show that Australian education is going backwards - a declining trend that has been going on for the past decade, writes Dr Sue Thomson.

New Zealand educational achievement has dropped significantly in the core subjects of science, maths and reading, according to a OECD report.

Education Minister Hekia Parata is preparing for an embarrassing drop in New Zealand's education rankings in an international survey next week.