Uplift in funding for learning support: ‘dirty money’

Thursday, 22 May 2025

A $720 million uplift in funding for learning support in schools over four years has been overshadowed by cuts to some existing supports and the hope of pay equity for teachers, unions say.

However, the IHC has welcomed the funding as support the families of disabled children have been waiting decades for.

Teachers were the largest group of claimants among 33 pay equity claims that were extinguished by the Government’s Pay Equity Law Amendment passed just two weeks before Thursday’s Budget.

Minister of Finance Nicola Willis revealed the Government’s change to the pay equity law will save nearly $3 billion in the next financial year - and $12.8 billion over four years.

As part of the learning support uplift, more than 560 early intervention teachers and specialists will be hired with a $266m boost to the early intervention service that already has 7100 children on its books, Willis said.

“Students with communication, learning, and physical needs have been failed for too long,” Willis said.

She said an extension to the service was expected to see 4000 more children receive support, and speed up access for 3000 who need it sooner.

The funding boost will allow an increase in the number eligible for targeted funding - the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) - supporting students with the highest ongoing levels of need for specialist support.

The scheme’s funding model has also changed from fixed to demand-driven, enabling future adjustments based on forecasts for roll growth and demand.

The Budget delivered $43m for an extra 78.5 full time equivalent speech language therapists, additional psychologists and towards teacher aide hours to help meet the growing demand of students with communication and behaviour needs.

“This investment recognises and responds to the growing number of children with additional learning needs and the pressure it places on teachers,” Minister of Education Erica Stanford said.

Author of a recent Aotearoa Education Collective report that found the learning support system was at breaking point Dr Sarah Aiono said the provision of learning support coordinators in every Year 1-8 school would address existing inequity and was very positive.

But she said cuts to Māori and literacy resource teachers, Resource, Teaching and Learning Behaviour support for year 11-13 students and the pay equity law changes put a shadow over this.

“It’s really dirty money.”

She said it would be interesting to see “if we have the workforce” to deliver the additional positions announced.

IHC Inclusive Education Lead Trish Grant said the Budget announcements were a great start. “However, further investment will be required to most effectively support all disabled learners and their families.”

NZEI president Ripeka Lessels said the union was disappointed there was not funding for more teacher aides across all schools to address the high level of need.

“What we’ve advocated for is for every classroom in every school should have a teacher aide … currently that’s not the case.”

The cut to the Kāhui Ako programme was disappointing as the minister had not taken the time to consult with the sector first, Lessels said.

The programme provided funding for 220 groups of schools to collaborate and share best practice. It covered 3500 schools, early childhood centres and tertiary providers.

Kāhui Ako was amongst $614m in initiatives “identified for reinvestment into frontline, priority education initiatives” Stanford said.

This included $4m for charter schools in the current financial year.

Meanwhile, subsidies for independent, or private, schools were boosted $15.7m over four years.

Associate Education Minister David Seymour said it was the first increase in private school funding in 15 years, a period when rolls had grown about 20%. “Independent schools are an important part of New Zealand’s education landscape, offering diversity and choice to parents, ” he said.

Post Primary Teachers Association president Chris Abercrombie said the Budget had delivered very little for secondary schools in the area of learning support.

“These issues don’t disappear and actually can be exacerbated as students go through puberty. Autism is more likely to be diagnosed at an older age.”

Abercrombie said the cut to Kāhui Ako and pay equity would take money out of teacher’s pockets and PPTA members would be taking this into their collective bargaining for a new pay agreement, which has recently been initiated.

Abercrombie and Lessels said a 1.5 per cent uplift in operational grants for schools had not matched the rise in inflation and would not address significant underfunding.

Given the stretched public school sector, it was not appropriate to give private schools an 11 per cent lift in funding, Abercrombie said.

The pause on funding for charter schools showed the initiative was a failure, he claimed.