INDEPENDENT NEWS

Principals concerned at spend on charter school

Published: Fri 7 Feb 2014 04:38 PM
Press Release: Mangere Principals Association
Principals concerned at spend on charter school
The Mangere Principals Association, says today’s opening of a charter school in the area flies in the face of the community efforts to raise educational achievement. The Chair of the Association, Fiona Cavanagh, says that the Ministry of Education’s failure to consult with the educational community of Mangere over the school has damaged trust.
“Throughout the entire process we were not consulted about the plan to open a new school in our neighbourhood,” says Fiona Cavanagh. “There are 23 schools in our Mangere cluster and the professionals who work in them know, more than anyone, the educational needs of our community. Yet we were not consulted.”
Ms. Cavanagh says the Principals’ Association is unaware what criteria was used to decide that money be put into a charter school in the Mangere area, rather than towards funding innovation and achievement in existing schools.
“There are so many good things happening here that are about helping all of our children and are pro-active and forward thinking. Sadly the same cannot be said of the Ministry of Education’s actions in putting a lot of money and resource into a small charter school.”
The Ministry contract, published on the Ministry website shows that the new ‘Rise Up’ school, which caters for 50 students, cost the Government $391,945 to establish and has an operational grant of $484,440 for 2014. The funding per student is $9668 compared with an average for students in public primary schools of $5,881.
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/TheMinistry/PartnershipSchools/Contracts/RiseUPContract.pdf
ENDS

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