This the conclusion policy analyst Joel Hernandez comes to in a report he prepared for The New Zealand Initiative.

Many parents want their kids to go to private schools.

But this report claims that New Zealand's state-integrated schools are doing much better than previously thought.

It claims that new data Hernandez crunched shows state-integrated schools may be a better choice.

A state-integrated school generally has a special character—for instance, a religious belief (e.g. Catholic) or a specialist teaching method such as Montessori.

State-integrated schools also charge much lower annual fees for students than private schools.

Often, the annual fee might be $1500, compared with a private school average of $20,000.

Since State-integrated schools were incorporated into the state education system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act, 1975 private schools have generally been viewed as better academic performers.

However, this report shows for the first time that students on average have a higher chance of attaining UE at a state-integrated school than at a private school (after separating the contribution of family socioeconomic background).

"Of course, education isn't just about gaining UE. Yet, giving kids opportunities is a key part of a school's role.

If educators don't believe every kid can gain UE, then we must lift our expectations."

Hernandez will answer why state-integrated schools are doing so well in an upcoming report.

"In an ideal world, students should be getting a world-class education at any school," Hernandez said.

"Yet state schools are much worse off."

The report The State of Schooling: State, state-integrated and private school performance in New Zealand can be read on The New Zealand Initiative website here.

Source

• scoop.co.nz
• nzinitiative.org.nz
• Image: nzcatholic.org.nz

The Suzanne Aubert Catholic School is expected to open at the beginning of Term 1, 2021.

The news was confirmed by the Ministry of Education last Thursday.

The school, owned by the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, is expected to start with a maximum roll of 100.

Depending on demand, it is expected to eventually expand to a maximum roll of 250 students.

Papamoa is one of the fastest-growing areas in New Zealand. Between 2006 and 2013 the population increased by 26.5 per cent.

Graeme Roil, the Catholic Integrated Schools Office property and finance manager, said the Government go-ahead was "a significant milestone".

Roil first began scouting locations for the school 10 years ago, eventually buying the land at Papamoa five years ago.

He said the church had been working on plans for the school while waiting for the Government's agreement.

It would now work with builders and the project management team to establish the different stages of construction.

Until these plans were finalised, Roil could not say how much the school would cost other than "it will be a multi-million dollar project".

Last December the New Zealand Herald reported that the Papamoa community was welcoming the idea of having another school.

Papamoa ward councillor Steve Morris said there was a "significant need" for another primary school in the area.

Morris said there was no doubt the new school would have community support, particularly given the amount of travel involved each week by students and parents.

Papamoa Primary School principal Phil Friar said: "We have seen enormous property development in Papamoa and I see having another school as a positive to help manage the extraordinary roll growth in this area,"

Golden Sands School principal Melanie Taylor said a new school would give parents another option which was "a good thing".

Aquinas College principal Matt Dillon said the college's community welcomed the move.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• tauranga.govt.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

Education Minister Chris Hipkins says state-integrated schools funding will go up as a result of an investment and he isn't worried about potential court action.

Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools (APIS) chief executive Paul Ferris said there is no obvious explanation as to the Government's actions and that at times their actions are very confusing.

He at first assumed the Government had made a mistake when there was no mention of integrated schools in the weekend announcement.

"I was hoping to go to the detail and find that was an oversight in the announcement, because in every way in our legal agreements, we would expect to be treated the same way".

"That's the partnership arrangement we believe we have with the Government".

Speaking to Mike Hosking on NewTalkZB, Ferris said he believes the Minister has been very poorly advised.

Under the legal agreements covering integrated schools, the Government is required to pay for their maintenance on the same basis as state schools, once a school's proprietor has completed upgrading it to the same standard as state schools.

Ferris told Hosking that integrated schools put over $4 billion of property into the hands of the Government at no charge.

Most of the state-integrated schools, which have over 90,000 pupils, have completed the upgrades, many of them years ago.

Hipkins said that the state-integrated schools would see a funding boost indirectly as a result of his policy.

"State integrated schools are funded differently to state schools. We don't fund their capital in the same way.

They own their own buildings and maintain their own buildings.

But we do provide them with maintenance funding - and their maintenance funding is based on the overall value of the state school portfolio.

So as they spend more money on their maintenance the value will go up based on that."

"They are going to benefit. They just aren't going to benefit in the same way."

"The reality is they are funded based on a formula they signed up to that they negotiated with the last Government. We are not changing that."

Ferris however, said state-integrated schools participate as state schools do in the same system.

Ferris said that at one point the Minister told the integrated schools to use attendance dues for maintenance, but the law specifically forbids this.

He said there is one network, not two and that the announced funding was handed out on a per-pupil basis not a needs basis.

They expected to get exactly the same as every other state-integrated school.

Source

• Supplied: David McLoughlin
  Communications Adviser, NZ Catholic Bishops
  Te Huinga o nga Pihopa Katorika o Aotearoa
• NewsTalkZB
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: rnz.co.nz

Salesa started the morning's discussion by expressing the government's commitment to working collaboratively with state integrated schools.

Hipkins then talked about the significant funding challenges faced by the education sector.

He provided reassurance to those present by saying that he saw state integrated schools as playing a vitally important role in the New Zealand education system and affirmed the government's commitment to support the growth of state integrated schools.

Much of the discussion centred on the relationship between the government and state integrated schools.

This included:

• How the schools can play a greater role in sharing the educational aspirations of the government
• What key actions the government can take to support the work of proprietors of integrated schools

The Minister reiterated the need for dialogue and collaboration between the sector and the government in ensuring complementary and sustainable growth.

At the meeting's conclusion, the director of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office, Paul Ferris, (pictured above with the Ministers) commented that "it was a welcome opportunity to meet with the Minister and his Associate Minister in what we felt was a positive step."

Ferris said those attending were reassured by the Minister's responses to the many questions fielded.

But the subject of funding was inevitably a fundamental part of the wider discussions.

Source

Supplied: Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools

The 330 schools charge attendance dues to cover the cost of making their properties conform to state-school building codes.

The attendance dues are allowed to cover other charges associated with land and buildings, including insurance, and until 2009 it had been accepted for nearly 30 years that the cost of collecting could also be included as "associated charges".

But in 2009 the Education Ministry said the attendance dues could not include the cost of collecting them.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Prunescoop