Editorial: School model flawed

Our school model is flawed. Photo/Thinkstock

The Government seems convinced a "carrot and stick" system is the best way to lift student achievement in this country.

We have seen this with the introduction of national standards and the announcement of performance-based pay for teachers. Both schemes, especially national standards, met with heavy resistance from the education sector.

In the end, the implementation of national standards was farcical because the Government allowed schools to provide the information in different formats and this meant there was little uniformity.

Unlike national standards, I support performance-based pay for teachers if it means educators who go the extra mile are rewarded. However, news the Government may fund schools according to pupils' progress makes me uneasy.

In an interview earlier this month, Education Minister Hekia Parata revealed the Government was considering funding schools according to the progress their pupils make.

The Ministry of Education is calculating new decile rankings for the nation's 2500 schools from last year's quake-delayed Census.

Despite the Government spending a record $9.7 billion on education this financial year, achievement levels weren't reaching the 85 to 100 per cent New Zealand needed.

The most successful funding systems narrowed the gap between high-achieving rich kids and under-achieving poor kids by "strongly incentivising" pupil progress, Ms Parata said.

She has since backtracked, claiming her comments were misunderstood and the Government had no intention of changing the decile funding system before the election.

The decile system, while a blunt instrument, is an attempt to level the playing field for disadvantaged pupils.

The lower the decile, the more money the school gets for resources such as support staff and equipment.

What concerns me about a possible move to performance-based funding is that pupils most in need might be penalised through funding cuts if their school performs poorly.

That's not to say that lower decile schools should not be held accountable. The leadership of the school should still be held accountable through the Board of Trustees and the Ministry, not through funding.