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The principal of a Whangarei's Hora Hora primary school is crying foul over the government's decision to drop a partnership school into his zone.
Pat Newman from Ngai Tahu believes the decision to approve He Puna Marama Charitable Trust's planned school was a response to his questioning the funding arrangements for charter schools, particularly the one in Whangaruru.
He says Education Ministry reports show that school is failing, despite getting more than $26,000 a pupil compared with the $6000 paid to his school.
Mr Newman says Whangarei already has a number of state primary schools who are successfully working with the target group of children that Whangaruru and He Puna Marama's Te Kapehu Whetu (Teina) are supposedly aimed at helping.
"My school's nearly 80 percent Maori. We're low decile. I have fantastic kids and parents. Why should my kids be funded at that level when there is supposedly a school 30km away that is absolutely failing and getting 500 percent more money," he says.
Mr Newman says if state schools got the same funding as charter schools they could create the programmes needed, they would be able to create the programmes to help all they pupils succeed.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PAT NEWMAN CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjIwNDY=
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