Tolley turning blind eye to school mortgage demand

new-zealand-labour-party

Tue Jul 14 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Tolley turning blind eye to school mortgage demand

Tuesday, 14 July 2009, 1:22 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

14 July 2009
Media Statement

Anne Tolley turning a blind eye to school’s mortgage demand

Education Minister Anne Tolley needs to take urgent action against a Masterton school which has told a mother to mortgage her home to pay school donations, Labour’s Education Spokesperson Trevor Mallard said.

“Rathkeale College has crossed a line and the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the Principal should be summoned to Wellington, told to apologise to the parent in a very public manner and be used as example to other elite integrated schools that insisting on payment of voluntary donations is a breach of their integration agreement which places their state funding at risk,” Trevor Mallard said.

“It is simply unacceptable for an integrated school to take taxpayers’ money and then demand thousands of dollars in ‘voluntary fees’ and the Minister needs’ to hold those responsible to account.

“However, despite having all the evidence, Anne Tolley has declined to give an elite integrated school the bollocking it deserves for suggesting that a single parent mortgage her house in order to pay a voluntary donation.

“The issue of suggested donations is not a simple one - anywhere in the state or state integrated system. You can’t stop a school asking for donations because no matter how much the education budget increases we all want more at the margin for our kids - but we must insist that it is a request not a demand,” Trevor Mallard said.

“Anne Tolley has been Minister for eight months and in that time she has failed to engage productively with any part of the education sector and now she is failing parents by refusing to hold this school to account,” Trevor Mallard said

Trevor Mallard’s Education Blog on this topic can be found by clicking on the following link - Trevor Mallard - Education Blog

ENDS

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