Canterbury School Trustees Association

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today.

I bring apologies from the Minister of Education, the Hon. Trevor Mallard, who wasn¡¦t able to attend, but I will report back to him any issues that you raise with me today.

While I have addressed a number of education conferences and meetings, this is my first occasion to meet with school trustees, and naturally, being a Christchurch MP, I'm pleased that the first School Trustees' Association I speak to is the Canterbury Association.

I have to confess from the outset that I have little expertise and experience in the education field. Unlike the Minister, Trevor Mallard, I have neither a professional background nor a political background in the sector. So I have to say that I have certainly undertaken a steep learning curve since being allocated my Ministerial warrants on December 10 last year.

However, it is meetings like this that enable me to broaden my understanding of the sector, and I am very confident of the leadership that he has already displayed.

In fact, recently the Dominion newspaper in Wellington, in true teacher fashion, graded all the Ministers on their performance so far, that is the first 100 days of being Government, and Trevor managed an A. Apparently for me, there is some room for improvement.

However, we do operate as a team. Trevor taking the lead, Steve Maharey having responsibility for Tertiary Education and Industry Training, and Parekura Horomia with responsibility for Maori Education and school transport. My own delegations are Special Education and Adult Education and Community Learning.

What I'd like to do this morning is to highlight the Coalition Government's general direction, and then take feedback from you on the matters I raise or on any other matters that you would like to see addressed.

The Minister of Education announced early this month that the first education amendment bill for this year will be introduced within the next few weeks and will include changes to governance, enrolment policy, and the abolition of bulk funding.

GOVERNANCE AND STAGGERING ELECTIONS

As school trustees, your role in the education system is extremely important. This Government supports the concept of school-based management along with a high degree of local community involvement, but we also believe that schools need to be supported in this role.

And there are difficulties that some boards face in their communities, such as having insufficient people standing for election or experiencing high turnover of board members, which can result in a loss of experience.

There are a number of changes to the Education Act, that will increase flexibility around school governance, and ensure boards can organise themselves more effectively. These include:

„h Providing for voluntary staggered board elections for half the parent representatives every 18 months, allowing the boards to better controls the turnover of trustees;
„h Removing the restrictions on the number of school boards that my combine. This particularly „o though not exclusively „o relates to small schools and schools undergoing EDI processes;
„h Facilitating new board elections within three months of a school merger, so the board of the combined school represents all students and parents;
„h And ensuring that all secondary school boards include a student trustee so that a student perspective is available to boards.

SCHOOL ENROLMENT SCHEMES

School enrolment schemes are an issue that has often been the centre of attention in Christchurch, particularly with secondary schools.

We consider that students have a right to attend their neighbourhood school. There is no use promoting choice when a parent does not have the right to send their child to the school next door. We will strengthen the law to ensure that any school¡¦s enrolment scheme includes a clearly defined geographic zone. Every student within that zone will have an absolute right to attend their local school, and out-of-zone places will be determined by ballot. This will result in more transparency and fairness in relation to out of zone enrolments.

The current system can result in a waste of resources where some communities have schools with significant numbers of spare places while other schools are over capacity.

BULK FUNDING

Another issue that has already been announced is that of the future of bulk funding. We are delivering on our promise to phase out bulk funding. We announced to schools in June 1998 that this was our intention. Our policy of abolishing bulk funding from the beginning of next year, 2001, will also be incorporated into the first piece of education legislation we introduce.

The bottom line is that over time, bulk funding would exacerbate the problems of schools in poorer areas in recruiting and retaining the best teachers.

It is our intention that all the money earmarked for bulk funding will be allocated to all schools. The money will be allocated in a way that gives schools the choice of using that money for staffing and operational costs. At the same time, we will continue to operate a central staffing formula to ensure that schools maintain minimum staffing requirements. This preserves the minimum requirements, but allows flexibility beyond that.

The detail of the formula for allocating money is yet to be finalised, but the intention is that it will be weighted in a similar way to the Targeted Funding for Educational Achievement (TFEA) funding.

The transition out of bulk funding will be phased. Schools that entered into their current bulk funding contract prior to the 18th of June 1998 will be free to choose to complete their existing contract. Those entered into after that date will be phased out at the end of the 2000 teaching year.

In the interim the government will be making a one-off payment to centrally resourced schools, using unspent amounts budgeted for bulk funding this year.

RESOURCING

We believe that schools need adequate funding to raise educational achievement. We plan to put more resources into schools and to direct resources to the areas of greatest need. The priority is raising achievement in the core State school network, rather than spreading limited resources too thinly by funding unlimited school choice.

As part of this approach we have said we will be capping the funding provided to private schools, and the TIE scheme has been abandoned.

OPERATIONS GRANT

The Government also intends to tackle other parts of the resourcing system at the same time. Many people see the current means for distributing operational funding as unfair. This Government will continue to review operations funding and will make sure that this funding is indexed to the rate of inflation.

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

There are a number of issues relating to school boards and their relationship with their principals. The feedback that I have received from the principals is that a greater emphasis on their professional development is required. Some have gone so far as to suggest a form of accreditation. Whatever course is adopted, it is a priority of this government to develop principals' leadership and management capability. The Minister announced a few weeks ago that the Ministry would be undertaking further consultation with the sector on this issue, so any feedback from your perspective would be welcome.

SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT AND FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS

Mr Mallard has already approved the extension of the supplementary funding entitlement to all primary schools for principals, rather than just those principals on individual employment contracts. Some will choose to stay on an individual employment contract, and that is their choice. But many principals felt it was completely unfair that the schools of those who broke away from the collective or were not allowed to be a part of it were financially rewarded by the former Government. The coverage of the primary principals' collective contract has been extended to be available to all primary school principals.

We have not yet developed a formal policy position on the fixed-term contracts for principals, that is the availability of five-year contracts for new principals and eight-year contracts for existing principals. But Mr Mallard agrees that five years is too short for a good principal and far too long for one who is not performing.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Government also has a strong commitment to ongoing professional development for teachers. There have been concerns raised at the previous government's plans to devolve a greater portion of professional development funding to schools, which would have involved high transaction costs, lack quality control, and yet again remote communities and small schools would be disadvantaged.

This year, professional development will continue to be delivered as it has been in the past, but the Ministry of Education will be reporting back on options for 2001 and beyond. These options will take into account the range of school and teacher needs and ways of ensuring value.

CURRICULUM

The curriculum changes of the last 9 years have now been well accepted in primary schools. However schools have experienced the changes as very demanding.

This Government supports regular updating of the curriculum. The question then becomes one of how to develop and implement changes in ways that are manageable and realistic for schools and to that ensure teachers have the support they need to make the changes work for their students, while also maintaining the momentum of change.

The next priority is to develop an agreed process and purpose for curriculum change that will see changes as ongoing and evolutionary rather than characterised by periods of stability or stagnation and then periods of great upheaval. Such an approach would ensure both currency in the curriculum while avoiding undue pressure on schools.

PARENT ADVOCACY SERVICE

A further amendment bill to be introduced later this year will establish a Parent Advocacy Service. A Parent Advocacy Council established by the fourth Labour Government was well supported by parents but National abolished it in 1991. Since then no alternative path for parents with complaints or concerns about school boards or principals has been available.

A service that will be able to advocate on behalf of students and parents will be added to the Office of the Commissioner for Children, extend its current role.

STAFFING

We are also setting up a working party on staffing to report back within 12 months with a staged plan of improvements to the current regime for staffing.

Priorities for this review will be the schools most in need: low decile schools, rural schools and primary schools with teaching principals.

The usual 1 March roll revision has not been applied this year at primary schools with fewer than 160 students where the school¡¦s roll has fallen. When it is likely that there will be some relief for these schools following this review, it does not make sense for some schools to lose staff temporarily because their roll has dropped.

A fresh look at staffing is all the more important as this is one of the key ways to ease the workload burden on teachers and principals.

CLOSING THE GAPS

Since becoming the Government, the leading focus is on closing the social and economic gaps that exist between Maori and other New Zealanders.

The Prime Minister has established, and also chairs, a Cabinet committee to oversee the work in this area. It is called Closing the Gaps.

I believe that educational under-achievement is one of the most important factors behind the continuing social and economic disadvantage of Maori. Therefore education has a pivotal role in closing the gaps at every level „o from early childhood education to tertiary, and the fourth or informal sector.

We simply cannot afford to allow another generation of Maori children, to miss out on the opportunities that a comprehensive education and commitment to lifelong learning can provide.

New Zealand is a world leader in some areas of education. We have relatively high levels of participation from early childhood right through to tertiary education.

But despite this, there are areas where we continue to underachieve. One third of all New Zealand students leave school without sixth form certificate. For Maori and those attending low decile schools, that number is much higher again.

I¡¦m not telling you anything you don't know already, but it is worth saying. Poor achievement is cumulative; the disparities compounding as students move through the school system.

Of course, educational under achievement cannot be addressed only at school. But it is a point of first contact, and therefore can play a significant role in assisting families addressing some of those broader social problems. A child¡¦s success in the education system is closely linked to their parents¡¦ literacy, educational background and socio-economic status. I am firmly convinced that adult literacy programmes can themselves assist in the development of their children¡¦s educational achievement.

CONCLUSION

So these are some of the areas of the education sector you will see some change happening soon. None of this will probably come as surprise. Much of what we are doing was heralded well before the election last year. We have spent years consulting and communicating with a wide range of sector groups to develop an education policy to deliver the education needs of all New Zealanders. It is exciting to be part of the delivery of that policy.

In closing, can I thank you all for the work that you are doing. I believe there has been negative press about schools over the last few years and the teacher-bashing does affect morale. From my initial discussions within different parts of the sector, there is a renewed sense of excitement and vitality that I know that we can build on. The impetus for change is built around a shared commitment to quality education for the children, and instilling in them the love for learning that will se them able to participate to their fullest in the communities of the future.

After all, it is for them that you do what you do, and why we respect and value you contribution. Thank you, and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to take them.