[ad_1]
Green Party co-leader James Shaw may not have turned up with the $ 26 million that Taranaki director Kealy Warren billed him, but he is hopeful that he will receive more government funding as a result of his visit.
On August 28, the acting principal of Marfell Community School sent Shaw the invoice after he announced that Green School NZ, a private education provider in Oakura, would get $ 11.7 million in ready-to-use funding for an expansion.
The move infuriated directors across the region, with many following Warren’s tactic of billing the government for their own infrastructure needs.
And while Shaw was empty-handed when he visited Marfell Thursday with his co-leader Marama Davidson, Warren said they had applauded his efforts.
“They kept saying ‘keep talking.’
READ MORE:
* Election 2020: the co-leaders of the Green Party face the directors of Taranaki
* From congratulations to ridicule – Green School picking up the pieces after 10 days as political football
* Election 2020: Zombie Parliament meets a flat ending with a mediocre last day
Shaw and Davidson met Warren as part of a two-day tour, in which they visited several schools and attended a meeting with a group of principals and educators on Wednesday night.
“They really listened and felt that the Green School had highlighted the problems [state] schools were having infrastructure, ”said Warren, who wore a green T-shirt for the occasion.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw visited Marfell Community School in New Plymouth on Thursday morning.
His visit to Marfell involved a tour of the school and Warren said Shaw commented on the school culture and how caring the environment was.
“They couldn’t believe the kids were running up to me for hugs,” she said.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Kealy Warren, acting principal of Marfell Community School, said the meeting changed her perspective on politicians.
Warren said she spoke to the couple about the lack of funds for children in need and expressed how Shaw’s decision to support the Green School had caused her many sleepless nights.
“He was very apologetic for the personal impact,” he said.
“My perspective on politicians has changed.”
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
The couple told Warren to keep talking about school funding issues.
National leader Judith Collins also recently visited the school and New Plymouth Labor candidate Glen Bennett was also visiting Thursday, which Warren said gave her hope that more support would be provided for state schools.
“Now that they know the problems, they seem to want to do something about it. So I’m hopeful. “
Central School principal Paul Johnson, who was also visited by the couple on Thursday, was also hopeful that funding for school infrastructure will now be a priority for the Green Party.
Johnson said he spoke with Shaw and Davidson about the lack of investment in schools and what it was like to work in a construction zone.
“He was open and honest, respectful, but to the point about the harsh negative realities of school property in Taranaki and New Zealand,” he said.
The Central School is currently in a major roof renovation and renovation project, which was to be completed in stages, but is instead being carried out all at once.
“Our people have to learn, work, exist with the merchants hammering and sawing over their heads all day today, and if it rains, the extra buckets and mats come out.”
He hoped Shaw and Davidson would take what they had learned from their meetings and apply it.
“Take our message, the message of the schools along the motu, to the government.”
In a written statement, Shaw said the school visits had been productive.
“Many appreciated that we took the time to come and hear what they need from the government in the next term,” the statement said.
“The problem of deteriorating schools from decades of neglect is a long-standing problem, and the Green Party has long called for better resourcing, so it was good to sit down with them and hear how we can advocate for the next period”.
