Schools see red over green funding

Greens co-leader James Shaw says the controversy over an $11 million investment in a green school in Taranaki has highlighted the poor state of many public schools across the country.

Mr Shaw has apologised for what he now says was a lapse of judgment given his party’s opposition to state funding of private schools.

He says the money for the Oakura project will come from the shovel-ready infrastructure fund, rather than the large sum for school upgrades overseen by Education Minister Chris Hipkins.

"Even though the Government has set up this funding to get our public schools up to scratch, at the least it was an insensitive announcement to make given that so many of them still haven't seen that funding," he says.

Mr Shaw says he believes all schools should be able to offer programmes that engage with nature, such as the enviroschools programme the Greens kicked off in the 1990s.

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