Delahunty Catherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is subject to correctionDelahunty Catherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 26 June 2014. Volume:702;Page:18941. Text is subject to correction.]4.CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green)to the Minister of Education: Did she write a new preference factor for Partnership School applicants on the 14 November education report “Confirming Round Two of Applications to Operate Partnership Schools”; if so on what advice?Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):Ā tēnā koe e te Mana Whakawā otirā huri noa i tō tātou Whare. Ngā mihi nui o te ahiahi ki a koe e te mema tēnā koe. Anei te whakahoki ki tō pātai.[And salutations to you Mr Speaker and indeed throughout our House. Huge greetings of the afternoon to you the member and thank you. Here is the response to your question.]Yes. The addition of this preference factor for the provision of innovative models around the consistent provision for 0 to 8-year-olds was based on a range of advice I received from the Ministry of Education. The point of partnership schools kura hourua is that they are innovative and provide parents with further choice. The first round resulted in the opening of mainly secondary schools. Learning from this as we do we indicated six preferences for the second round. This was just one of them.Catherine Delahunty: Can the Minister confirm that 5 days before tenders were opened for the latest round of partnership schools she handwrote a new category to be given priority and that was a school offering options for babies aged 0 to 8 years old?Hon HEKIA PARATA: What I can confirm is that the paper I took to Cabinet in October identified the range of preferences I would be looking to operationalise in the second round. One of the policy options was to explore innovative proposals that provided for seamless transition between early childhood education and primary school. I subsequently when operationalising it included that particular preference along with five others.Catherine Delahunty: What official advice did she receive about bringing babies and pre-schoolers into charter schools before she announced that schools offering options for 0 to 8-year-olds would be given priority?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I received a range of advice which included The Science of Early Childhood Development by Mustard and McCain 1999; An Agenda for Amazing Children: Final Report of the ECE Task force 2011; a literature review by Sally Peters 2010 titled “Literature review: Transition from early childhood education to school”; L Mitchell et al “Locality-based evaluation of Pathways to the Future—Ngā Huarahi Arataki” for the Ministry of Education; and a range of others.Catherine Delahunty: I seek leave to table an answer to a written question that I received today from the Minister’s office stating that she did not receive any advice—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The matter has been described. Can I be clear just before I put the leave that it is an answer to a written question that you have received that has not yet been published?Catherine Delahunty: Yes it is.Mr SPEAKER: On that basis I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that particular answer to a written question. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Catherine Delahunty: Why was she so keen on the radically new idea of partnership schools for 0 to 8-year-olds that she changed the criteria days before tenders opened to include this in the absence of any official advice at all as my written question confirms?Hon HEKIA PARATA: As I have already indicated in my answer to the recent supplementary question I have been provided with a whole range of advice. The member’s written question is accurate. It does not preclude having had a whole range of advice in the past 3 to 10 years on what needs to happen on transition from early childhood education to primary school. Why did I do that? Because we know that children who start behind too often stay behind. We are interested in giving all New Zealand children the best educational start possible.Catherine Delahunty: Will partnership schools be allowed to use the extra Government money that babies and pre-schoolers attract not on those children but to run the rest of the school or boost the owners’ profits?Hon HEKIA PARATA: We have not yet finalised the submissions for the second round so whether there will be any in this category is yet to be determined but certainly I am happy to table for the member the actual requirements of the request for proposals which makes it very clear how early childhood component funding is to be used were there to be a proposal made of that kind were it to be approved were it to be negotiated and were it to be established.Catherine Delahunty: I seek leave to table the ministry advice that says that partnership kura will receive the same grant as equivalent early childhood services—Mr SPEAKER: Order! It is a Ministry of Education document. I would just like the date of it and the approximate age of the document and then I will put the leave.Catherine Delahunty: I think it is November 2013.Mr SPEAKER: November 2013—it is a Ministry of Education document. Is there any objection to that being tabled? There appears to be none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Chris Hipkins: Why is the Minister happy to extend the reach of charter schools to cover babies given the results from the first round of charter schools is already mixed with at least one school plagued by drug use bullying use of gang signals high staff turnover and high rates of student dropouts or is she satisfied that these lower levels of accountability for charter schools are just par for the course?Hon HEKIA PARATA: One of the core purposes of partnerships schools kura hourua is to cater to kids who have not been successful in the mainstream system. By and large those are kids who are categorised by early exclusion and by the very problems that the member clearly takes pleasure in tabulating here. These schools really are about trying to help those kids whom the system has been failing. Unlike the member in the Opposition who is happy to wring his hands about these problems and do nothing about them this side of the House is prepared to do something about them. That is why we are working with the most vulnerable in our system to give them a chance at educational success.Tracey Martin: Before the Minister signs any further contracts for partnership schools will she make sure that there is a clauseincluded whereby the taxpayers can regain their taxpayer-funded assets should these kura close?Hon HEKIA PARATA: There is already provision within the education sector for disposal and reacquisition of those assets were schools to close and we consider that appropriate for this school as well.Tracey Martin: No there’s not—not inside partnership schools.Hon HEKIA PARATA: I thought the member might want to hear my answer but there you go.Catherine Delahunty: Is it not the truth that she is making policy up as she goes along and that there was no justification for a 0 to 8 partnership school other than allowing charter school owners to use babies as a cash cow to fund the school?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Is it not more the truth that that member is not interested in how we ensure that every child in New Zealand gets the best opportunity to succeed?Catherine Delahunty: When poorer communities are desperate for good-quality early childhood education why does she want to spend precious public money on a hugely risky experimental concept of charter schools for babies?Hon HEKIA PARATA: This Government has increased funding for early childhood education from just over $800 million to just under $1.6 billion in the last 5 years. That is almost double the amount of funding for early childhood education so for the member to suggest that this Government is underfunding early childhood education flies in the face of evidence.