Categories: News

How much do schools earn from donations?

Wealthy schools continue to earn millions in school donations, contributing to the resource gap between state schools.

<h2><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">In 2017&comma; a change to school donation schemes saw most schools stopped from asking for donations&semi; however&comma; wealthier schools continue to ask for these donations&comma; creating resource inequity between schools in wealthy and poorer areas&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">When he announced the policy in 2017&comma; then Minister for Education Chris Hipkins said school donations created &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;real unfairness” because &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;kids whose parents can afford to pay are getting a better deal than those parents that can’t&period;” <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Since then&comma; the government has given schools &dollar;150 per student to eligible schools who agreed not to ask for donations except for school camps&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the latest print edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">However&comma; students of schools decile eight to 10&comma; or with an equity index number below 431 aren’t able to access this funding and these schools continued to ask their parents for annual donations&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Schools that continue to ask for donations typically receive more than schools can get on government funding&comma; reports <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;rnz&period;co&period;nz&sol;news&sol;in-depth&sol;509520&sol;school-donations-continue-to-yield-millions-of-dollars-for-wealthier-schools" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank"><span data-contrast&equals;"none">RNZ<&sol;span><&sol;a><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;22117" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-22117" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-22117" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;02&sol;private-school-snip-300x175&period;png" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"175" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-22117" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Schools that can ask for donations typically receive more funding than those who opt into the government donation&period; Shutterstock&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">They collected data from 200 schools who were ineligible for the government funding&comma; revealing that parents gave a total of around &dollar;280 per student when averaged over all the schools&period; Each school requested different amounts from parents&comma; from &dollar;4320 to &dollar;15 per student&period; On average&comma; parents were asked for &dollar;358 per student&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The Hutt International Boy’s School requested the most from each parents at &dollar;4320 per student&comma; including &dollar;380 for the school camp&period; It raised almost &dollar;2&period;6 million by Nov 1&comma; 2023 for the school year&period; Other schools also raised over &dollar;1m in parent donations&comma; including Auckland Grammar School&comma; Sacred Heart College&comma; Baradene College and Waikato Diocesan School for Girls&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">President of the PPTA Chris Abercrombie said that the government’s donation scheme isn’t enough and doesn’t solve the issue it set out to address&colon; inequity between schools&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&&num;8220&semi;We believe it&&num;8217&semi;s the government&&num;8217&semi;s responsibility to fully fund education and not have to rely on basically the generosity of communities&period; Every parent wants the absolute best for the child&comma; so if they have the ability to do it&comma; they will absolutely give money to their school or time to their school&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&&num;8220&semi;We know schools in wealthier communities can generate a lot more local funding&period; This really exacerbates the inequality that we see in the education system&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Less wealthy schools that are ineligible for the government donation are forced to ask for donations to fund services like a special educational needs and disabilities coordinator and teacher aides&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;27886" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-27886" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-27886" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;10&sol;AdobeStock&lowbar;286143415-300x200&period;jpeg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"200" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-27886" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Teacher aides and specialist teachers are self-funded by some schools&period; AdobeStock by Halfpoint<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">One such kura is Balmoral School in Auckland&comma; which asked parents for &dollar;440 per student in 2023&period; Principal Malcom Milner said around 60 – 70 percent of parents pay this donation and the money goes towards personnel for children with support needs&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;These children are without support unless schools raise money to fund teacher aides to work with them&comma;” said Milner&comma; who added that eligibility criteria to access Ministry of Education funding is strict&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Golden Sands School is another kura who is on the cut-off point of government donation funding&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are not eligible for the scheme but miss out on a significant amount of funding due to being a couple of equity points off the cut-off&comma;” said Principal Melanie Taylor&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The school requests &dollar;100 per student&comma; raising &dollar;25&comma;000 by November 2023&period; If eligible for the government scheme&comma; the school would have received around &dollar;84&comma;000&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">Similarly&comma; Cambridge East School is 10 points away from the cut-off for government donations and is missing out on funds&period; They request &dollar;120 per student and have seen a fall in caregivers able to afford the donation&comma; from around 80 percent to 60 percent&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">&&num;8220&semi;Schools that haven&&num;8217&semi;t received that extra &dollar;150&comma; in recent years&comma; they&&num;8217&semi;re just on a hiding to nothing&period; I&&num;8217&semi;ve got nothing against targeted funding in regards to the lower socio economic areas&period; I&&num;8217&semi;ve got no issue with it but it&&num;8217&semi;s just become too difficult for schools that are perceived to be an affluent area&comma; because we&&num;8217&semi;ve still got learners that have all those needs as well&comma;” says Principal Hamish Fenemor&period;<&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span data-contrast&equals;"auto">The scheme was originally put in place to relieve financial burden on households that needed it the most&comma; which is why the top decile schools were ineligible for government donations&period; Education Minister Erica Stanford said there are currently no plans to change the government donation scheme&period; <&sol;span><span data-ccp-props&equals;"&lbrace;&quot&semi;201341983&quot&semi;&colon;0&comma;&quot&semi;335559739&quot&semi;&colon;160&comma;&quot&semi;335559740&quot&semi;&colon;259&rcub;"> <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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Naomii Seah

Naomii Seah is a writer and journalist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She has been covering education in New Zealand since 2022.

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