The money promised to provide ‘wider access’ to private schooling is ridiculous!  For a start, the means tested eligibility means the applicants must be earning less than $65k gross per annum AND have a net worth of less than $150k!  So conceivably, someone who is doing well enough (thank you) can apply for this grant to pay for private schooling for their kids!  What is more, the selection process is by ballot – a clear indication that selection is not based on highest need (which, is obviously not the intent).  Therefore I have to draw the conclusion that this scheme is not targeted at the ‘lower income bracket’ at all… my thoughts here are; if you want to send your kids to private school, YOU pay for it.

The money being poured into private education is crazy.  This money should be used to support the public sector, in particular focusing on areas of highest need  and for me, this means supporting learning lower decile schools… these are where the ‘truly’ low income families have to send their kids.  How often do the ‘truly ‘ poor get access to private health care?  (I don’t actually know but suggest that it would not be much, if anything).

The direct correlation between poverty and educational underachievement cannot be ignored, and certainly cannot be resolved by pumping another $2.6m into private schooling (not withstanding the other $50m going into private schooling over the next 3 years).

Time to acknowledge the wonderful work being done by many of our lower decile schools and to work with them to provide the resourcing to help them (and therefore all schools) lift under-achievement among our poorest.

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.