Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:642;Page:12131] 
7.  
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he stand by his statement in relation to a sudden funding change which has left many schools hundreds of thousands of dollars worse off without warning that “I’m a bit seriously pissed off with this myself”; if so when did the ministry tell him about the planned funding cuts? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Once again the member has her facts wrong. School deciles change every 5 years following the census. Schools have always been given the same amount of lead time as they were given this time. I was concerned however that although all schools were consulted about the change on this occasion the New Zealand Educational Institute which had expected to be contacted was overlooked by the Ministry of Education and the ministry is correcting that now. 
Katherine Rich 
: What precisely annoyed the Minister because when the decile changes shaved an estimated $2.5 million from the operations budgets of secondary schools and potentially $8 million from primary and contributing schools it is beyond the realm of credibility that he did not know about that? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: That is in fact beyond the realm of credibility. If the member had listened to the answer before she would have heard me say that the census is the trigger for changing the decile ratings as it was under the National Government. The lead time was the same as last time. What annoyed me a little was the notion that all schools had been consulted but that the New Zealand Educational Institute had on this occasion been missed out. It was annoyed about that and so was I. 
Dr Ashraf Choudhary 
: Has the Minister received any reports advocating major changes to our education system including changes to the way our schools are funded; if so what did they involve? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I can report that when the National Party was asked to explain its education policy at the New Zealand Educational Institute conference a few weeks ago Katherine Rich signalled no major change. A few days later her leader revealed a privatisation agenda. Katherine Rich did not tell the New Zealand Educational Institute about that. She dodged questions on performance pay on bulk funding and on the right of children to go to their local school—in fact she said nothing. It is time for the National Party to have an open frank and honest discussion with New Zealanders about its real education policy. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister confirm that 40 percent of primary schools and 50 percent of secondary schools were in deficit in 2006 and that the number of secondary schools in deficit actually increased from 33 percent to 50 percent between 2005 and 2006; and what does he think that schools facing cuts—for some cuts of in excess of $100000—should do to cut their budgets when some are talking about cutting teachers books and even reading recovery programmes? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I can confirm that the deputy leader of the National Party said that schools were awash with cash and I can also confirm that the majority of schools gain change not at all or lose on average about $14000. Those schools that lose any substantial sum of money are currently working with the Ministry of Education to ensure that the transition works for them. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister confirm that when he stood up in front of the New Zealand Educational Institute and said that he was annoyed at the process that had been used to inform schools about funding cuts he knew about the process he agreed with the process and he was really just using a soft smarmy answer to deal with a difficult question from the floor? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Many many times of course the member has misrepresented what people say. What I said of course was that the decile rating changes with the census every 5 years that the lead-in time was the same as usual that the consultation process was exhaustive with all schools but that one piece of consultation relevant to that conference was missed out. That was that the New Zealand Educational Institute was not contacted directly as a group and that was what was talked about at the conference. 
Katherine Rich 
: Will the Minister allow schools that are facing cuts to their funding of in excess of $100000 to have a 12-month lead-in time so they can amend their budgets? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I urge the member to listen to answers because as I pointed out previously the majority of schools are in no difficulty whatsoever. Some gain some are the same and some lose an average of about $14000. As I said before for the few schools that are losing larger amounts of money we are working with them on a case by case basis to ensure that the transition is handled properly. That is what we will do.