Public funding of private schools

I do enjoy the holiday break as it gives me a good chance to catch up on the politics of education, in particular reading around the many trends and patterns emerging available on the world wide web. There is always regular dialogue on National Radio and last week on Kathryn Ryan's Nine to Noon show there was interesting discussion around the pressure that private schools are under to maintain conditions of learning while holding the fees down so that New Zealanders can afford them. Particular emphasis was given to the $800,000 grant to Wanganui Collegiate while it goes through the integration process from being a private school to an integrated school. 


As a state school principal who sits at the knife edge of decision-making around just the basics of what we can or can't have for the children of our community I find this handout to Collegiate unacceptable, particularly in the context of my last post on special needs funding. The discussions clarifies many myths around the private and state education divide.

The discussion involves - Deborah James, executive director of Independent Schools of New Zealand; Deborah Russell, Massey University taxation lecturer; and Robin Duff, president of the Post Primary Teachers' Association.