School forced to choose between heatpump or teacher aide after 12% funding shortfall

Friday, 22 May 2026

School operational budgets have shrunk by nearly 12% since 2021, a Post Primary Teachers Association - Te Wehengarua (PPTA) report says. They are calling for an urgent increase at next Thursday’s Budget.

Schools have lost nearly 12% in funding in the past eight years as annual Budget adjustments have failed to keep up with inflation since 2021, a report by a peak education union has found.

Analysis by the Post Primary Teachers’ Association - Te Wehengarua (PPTA) released Friday reveals a shortfall of 11.7% in operational grant funding.

A faulty process to determine the adjustments were behind the funding shortfall, which was a “growing impediment” to the delivery of educational and well-being outcomes, the union report said.

From toilet paper to wages for teacher aides and support staff, property maintenance and school trips for students who can’t afford them, the operational grant is the main source of funding for schools outside of most teacher salaries.

Te Kura o Matarangi Northcote School principal Sam Turner says schools have to choose between buying a heatpump or hiring a teacher aide as they struggle with limited funding.

For Te Kura o Matarangi - Northcote Primary School, it meant choosing between a heat pump for a classroom or an extra teacher aide, principal Sam Turner said.

The school, which serves a high deprivation area of Christchurch, has spent three years raising funds for a new playground.

While thankful for a community grant of $100,000, the school would need to apply for another one to fund the full replacement of $180,000.

Turner said fundraising as a source of revenue was limited for his school.

“A sausage sizzle probably brings in $100, a raffle might bring in a thousand [dollars], where a raffle in a different part of town brings in a significant amount of money.”

The school’s high equity index meant he received more funding per student, but this was quickly used up on essentials such as free school uniforms, a breakfast programme, and extra support workers.

Te Kura o Matarangi - Northcote Primary School principal Sam Turner says replacing the school’s playground has taken three years and two community grants.

“….some of our tamariki (children) are starting significantly behind others, so we need to fund people to come in and support children in their learning.”

The PPTA called on the Government to deliver “an urgent increase to this year's operational grant” in next week’s Budget, “that at least addresses forecast inflation and makes some progress on tackling the shortfall”.

According to the union, the failure to reflect actual inflation rates meant a medium-sized secondary school with about 800 students missed out on $230,000 in the funding.

Darfield High School principal Andy England says the school employed a development manager to seek out fundraising opportunities.

Darfield High School principal Andy England said schools were working hard to plug the gap through fundraising, attracting international students and applying for community grants - but this was easier for some schools than others.

“No school wants to go without and so we find ways to still provide, but I've just found the pressure on fundraising in schools has become enormous.”

The school employed a development manager to seek out fundraising opportunities, paid for from the operational grant.

It also meant making tough decisions about staffing, as this was the biggest spend from the operational grant.

A gap of nearly 12% has opened up between the annual increases to operational funding for schools and the actual inflation rate in the past few years, a Post Primary Teachers Association - Te Wehengarua (PPTA) report says.

“In our case, we don't have as many teacher aides and support staff as I'd like to employ.”

The PPTA says there has been a “standing intention by successive Governments to keep operational grant rates broadly in line with inflation”.

This hasn’t been happening because the Government uses information from the previous year’s inflation rate and a forecast of the following year’s inflation, published in December, five months before the Budget, the union says.

There was no mechanism in place to adjust the funding in line with further forecasting, following the Budget.

Between 2018 to 2025 annual funding increases started falling behind inflation, but the shortfall widened significantly from 2022.

The biggest variations were in 2022 and 2023 when the adjustment was 1.6% and 2.75% but inflation soared to 5.95% and 7.2% respectively.

Prior to the Budget, Treasury produces a new CPI forecast, published on Budget Day, which could be higher or lower than the previous forecast.

It’s only in the following January the actual inflation rate is announced.

PPTA Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said there was huge concern the trend of under inflation funding would be repeated this year.

While the Budget Day forecasts were likely to be around 3%, with the fuel crisis there was a serious risk actual inflation would be much higher.

He said an increase below 3% would make the situation worse and even a 5% increase would fail to address the existing shortfall.

An increase of 5% to 12% would “make some progress”, but to seriously “tackle the shortfall” an increase of more than 12% was required, Abercrombie said.

“Schools will be watching this figure very closely next Thursday.”