The school funding system should be reviewed after enrolment figures showed a growing divide between rich and poor, a leading principal says.
Education Minister Hekia Parata has again signalled a wide-ranging review could be on the cards, and has called the decile system "a blunt instrument".
A Herald analysis of Ministry of Education enrolment information shows the number of Pakeha children attending schools in New Zealand's poorest communities has halved since the mid-1990s.
Patrick Walsh, principal of Rotorua's John Paul College and executive member of the Secondary Principals' Association, said too many parents were avoiding local low-decile schools.
This was done in the misguided belief that a higher decile meant a school provided a better education.
In reality, decile ratings are assigned to schools only for funding purposes -- low-decile schools receive more funding.
Decile 1 schools are the 10 per cent of schools with the highest proportion of students from low socio-economic communities.
Mr Walsh said those schools still needed extra funding, but the current system did not account for the mix of students -- mid-decile schools could still have very poor students.
"They need a more precise and accurate measurement."
Ms Parata signalled a review could be planned, and agreed that the decile system was well-intentioned but "a blunt instrument".
"We need a system that supports our schools and boards of trustees to do the best for their students and their achievement outcomes."
Ms Parata's previous comments on a potential change, which were interpreted as favouring a system that would peg money to improved student achievement, caused controversy.
She told the Herald that any changes would be "well thought through, be well foreshadowed, and would require work alongside the profession and sector groups".
Meanwhile, the ministry will contact all state and state-integrated schools in the next 10 days to let them know the outcome of the latest recalculation of decile ratings.
Deputy Secretary for student achievement Dr Graham Stoop said any school could seek a review of its new decile rating.
By Nicholas Jones of the New Zealand Herald
