I read with great concern that the Government is going to be making big cuts to funding for physical therapy for students with special needs, here is the question time dialogue from the House on the 3rd of August.

I am not prepared to take sides here, nor am I ignoring the fact that we are still in a significant recession and spending cuts are to be expected.  However, I agree with the Hon. Clayton Cosgrove’s question regarding the extra 35 million dollars that is now being pumped into private schooling in this country (which is to happen over the next 4 years – reading the question time responses, you could be forgiven for missing this important detail) and whether that situation is fair.  I also agree that it is a ‘fair’ question, and that the response was unacceptable.  What I am struggling with here, is the fact that special needs kids have great needs and should NOT be the top priority for spending cuts.

I see that there has been a small ‘about turn‘ by the Minister and while the comments on that link are not very objective, they are certainly better that the Hon Trevor Mallard’s comments on the Labour Party Blog!  For the record here are his comments, and for some balance, the Minister’s comments are also provided.  This is not a swipe at the Minister or this Government over the special needs issue, the extra funding which has gone into the ORRS funding scheme has made the funding more accessible and the process tolerable.

The issue for me, is that when we enrol the child next year who needs extra physical therapy, where is the funding going to come from to help us support the child and the family?  While I value the support the MOE gives, it is the actual therapy that will make the greatest difference.

Aside from the obvious concerns around so much more funding going to private schools (surely if someone chooses private schools – it must be like going private in the health care system… the user pays!  Not the taxpayer!), I would feel so much more comfortable if the Minister would consider cutting costs where there was not a direct effect on student achievement, such as printing and sending of all of the online documents generated by the MOE and ERO to every school.  This documentation is very valuable, but I imagine that many schools cannot read it all – and it is duplicating what is already available.

That would be a good place to start, it would easily save the 2.5 million for the kids who need the physical therapy support.