NZEI Misleading Public About Bulk Funding

The New Zealand Educational Institute's (NZEI) claim that bulk-funding failed in New Zealand schools does not stack up with the evidence, ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Sir Roger Douglas said today.

"Bulk-funding is very simple – schools are given a lump sum and then the Board of Trustees get to allocate it according to its needs. We already have bulk funding with operational grants to schools – my Bill would extend the same principle to staffing issues," Sir Roger said.

"In surveys undertaken for the Ministry of Education in the late 1990s, it was revealed that 94 percent of respondent schools felt that they had been mostly advantaged by bulk-funding, and 80 percent confirmed that their school would prefer to continue with bulk funding.

"Moreover, the idea that this would help high-decile schools is nonsense. The previous model of bulk funding was optional, and 36 percent of bulk funded schools came from those in low-decile areas - deciles 1 to 3. Why would so many low-decile schools opt in to the scheme if it harmed them?

"Over 80 percent of bulk-funded schools used the money to hire extra teaching staff. This shows that schools used the increased flexibility in order to increase teacher quantity and quality. Why should schools be prohibited from doing this?

"Far from being a bad chapter in education, school autonomy has increased around the world in the past 20 years – it is New Zealand's education system that has been moving in the wrong direction.

"Teachers' unions and interest groups should want good quality teachers to be well-remunerated. I am staggered by their belief that every area of school budgets – except teacher salaries – should be bulk-funded," Sir Roger said.

ENDS