# Question 36: I have a school-age child who needs additional learning support. Getting suitable help at school is my main concern, and I sometimes reduce paid work to care for them. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Which parties explain how they would fund and deliver extra support in ordinary schools, rather than just promise improvements?

Collected 26 October 2026

[NZ Election 2026 · Edition 6 study](https://nzbrands.ai/research/nz-election-2026/editions/6)

## ChatGPT

Answer ID: 608f5277-a742-401a-95a5-1ce30706fda8

# New Zealand 2026 election: Which parties have credible plans for learning support in ordinary schools?

If your child needs additional learning support, the most useful way to compare parties is to look beyond promises to improve inclusive education. You want to know **who will pay for the support, what your child could actually receive at school, who will deliver it, and whether the help will be available consistently enough for you to maintain paid work.**

For your situation, I'd assess each party against five practical tests:

1. **Funding:** Does it commit additional money to learning support, specify how much, or identify a funded programme?
2. **Staffing and services:** Does it explain how schools will get more specialist teachers, teacher aides, learning support coordinators, educational psychologists, speech-language therapists or other relevant professionals?
3. **Access in ordinary schools:** Does it explain how children will receive help in their local mainstream school, rather than relying on specialist settings or support that families must organise themselves?
4. **Delivery and accountability:** Does it specify when support will arrive, how eligibility will be determined, and how progress or service availability will be measured?
5. **Support for families:** Does it address waiting lists, inconsistent access, and the unpaid care that parents may have to provide when school support is inadequate?

A party can have a good inclusion policy but still fall short on funding or implementation. Equally, an increase in education spending does not necessarily mean that children who need additional support will receive more help.

## 1. The strongest specific commitments to examine

Based on the parties' published policies and statements available as of 25 October 2026, **Labour and National have made particularly concrete commitments on classroom staffing, while the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori have proposed broader changes to how learning support is organised and accessed.** These proposals are not directly equivalent, and their funding and delivery details differ. [labour.org.nz](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-provide-more-help-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [national.org.nz](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

### Labour: 1,000 additional teacher aides, with a stated budget

Labour announced a specific classroom-support commitment on 22 October 2026.

- **Funding:** $80 million over four years.
- **Staffing:** 1,000 additional teacher aides.
- **Funding arrangements:** Simplify funding to give schools greater certainty and teacher aides more job security.
- **Further reform:** Build on the 2022 Highest Needs Review to identify gaps in learning support and make it easier for schools to access resources. [labour.org.nz](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-provide-more-help-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**Why it matters for your family:** Teacher aides can provide practical, individual assistance to children who struggle to access classroom learning. A specific staffing target and budget make this commitment easier to scrutinise than a general promise to improve inclusion.

**What remains unclear:** The announcement does not specify how the 1,000 aides would be distributed among schools, how many hours of assistance individual children would receive, or when the additional support would reach each school. Nor does the announcement establish that every child who needs an aide would qualify.

Labour also says it would progress the findings of the Highest Needs Review, including addressing problems with the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS), which supports students with the highest ongoing needs. The detail of that reform needs to be examined separately from the teacher-aide commitment. [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Read the announcement on the [Labour Party's official website](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-provide-more-help-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

### National: Learning support coordinators in all Year 1–8 schools and two million extra teacher-aide hours

National's published education policy includes two significant commitments for mainstream schools.

- **Learning support coordinators:** Provide coordinators in all schools with students in Years 1–8 from 2028.
- **Teacher-aide hours:** Build towards two million additional hours annually from 2028.
- **Training:** Provide additional teacher-aide training to help support children with behavioural, emotional and neurodiverse needs.
- **Early intervention:** Connect children needing additional assistance with an expanded Early Intervention Service. [national.org.nz](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

National has also announced specific education spending in Budget 2026, including $22 million for students with high health needs and $3 million for Deaf Education services. These are additional elements of its education programme, rather than a dedicated budget for every measure listed above. [national.org.nz](https://www.national.org.nz/news/investing-in-secondary-achievement?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**Why it matters for your family:** This is a relatively detailed delivery plan. Learning support coordinators can help schools identify needs and coordinate assistance, while extra aide hours could translate into more direct classroom support.

The two-million-hour target is also a measurable commitment. It gives voters something concrete to check against delivery.

**What remains unclear:** National's published commitments do not, by themselves, guarantee a particular number of aide hours for your child. You should also establish how much of the additional support will be genuinely new, how it will be allocated between schools, and whether the staffing supply will be sufficient to deliver it.

The stated 2028 timeframe is important if your child needs substantial assistance now.

Read the details in [National's education policy](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly?utm_source=chatgpt.com) and its [2026 education announcements](https://www.national.org.nz/news/investing-in-secondary-achievement?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

### Green Party: Broader eligibility and a coordinated support system

The Greens' 2026 manifesto commits to an inclusive education system and outlines changes to how students access specialist assistance.

Its published commitments include:

- Expanding the criteria for accessing learning support.
- Establishing a single agency to coordinate and resource specialist support for learners with health and disability support needs.
- Implementing the Ministry of Education's *Framework for Action: A Quality Education for All*. [greens.org.nz](https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**Why it matters for your family:** Access is a major issue when a child needs help but does not meet the eligibility criteria for a particular service. Expanding eligibility could address some of those gaps. A single coordinating agency could also make it easier for families and schools to navigate fragmented services.

**What remains unclear:** The proposals identified here do not give the same straightforward combination of a specified number of new teacher aides and a dedicated four-year budget as Labour's announcement. You would need to examine the Greens' detailed costings and implementation plan to establish how much additional help would be available in ordinary classrooms, and when.

Read the [Green Party's 2026 manifesto](https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

### Te Pāti Māori: A Māori-led approach to transforming learning support

Te Pāti Māori has proposed establishing a Māori-led taskforce to transform how students with disabilities, neurodivergence and learning differences are taught and supported.

Its stated priorities include:

- Addressing systemic exclusion in education.
- Resourcing support teachers.
- Improving the accessibility of learning environments.
- Providing ongoing professional development grounded in mātauranga Māori. [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**Why it matters for your family:** The proposal recognises that inclusion requires more than simply enrolling a child in a mainstream school. Teachers need appropriate training, learning environments need to be accessible, and schools need the resources to support different learning needs.

**What remains unclear:** The proposals identified here do not specify a comparable total funding commitment, a number of additional support staff, or a timetable for delivering extra assistance. The proposed taskforce's recommendations and the resources available to implement them would be important to examine.

Read the party's policies through its official website: [Te Pāti Māori](https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

## 2. What about ACT, New Zealand First and The Opportunities Party?

These parties are worth checking, but the published evidence I found is less specific about additional learning support delivered directly in mainstream classrooms.

| Party | Relevant position | How well does it answer your question? |
|---|---|---|
| **ACT** | Emphasises school choice, accountability and alternatives such as charter schools. | Its current education policy does not establish a comparable, costed commitment to additional support staff in ordinary state schools. [act.org.nz](https://www.act.org.nz/policies/education?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) |
| **New Zealand First** | Has expressed support for inclusive learning, but its responses to a recent election policy comparison did not set out specific new learning-support commitments. | I could not verify a detailed, costed plan for additional mainstream-school support in the material reviewed. [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) |
| **The Opportunities Party (TOP)** | Proposes a 10-year, cross-party education plan, including better workforce planning and specialist resources for teachers. | The long-term approach could support stability, but TOP says additional funding would be advocated for through that plan rather than specifying a dedicated learning-support budget. [opportunity.org.nz](https://www.opportunity.org.nz/future_fit_education?utm_source=chatgpt.com) |

This distinction matters: a party may have worthwhile ideas about educational choice, accountability or long-term planning without explaining how it will get extra assistance to a child who needs it in their existing classroom.

## 3. How do the parties compare on the things that matter most?

Here is a practical comparison of the four parties with the clearest relevant proposals identified above.

| What matters to your family | Labour | National | Greens | Te Pāti Māori |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specific additional classroom staffing | **1,000 additional teacher aides** | **Two million extra aide hours annually by 2028** | No comparable staffing number identified in the material reviewed | Commits to resourcing support teachers; no comparable number identified |
| Published funding amount for the specific commitment | **$80 million over four years** | Additional education funding announced, but no separate total identified here for the two-million-hour commitment | No comparable dedicated amount identified here | No comparable dedicated amount identified here |
| Changes to access and eligibility | Reform of learning-support funding and review of gaps | Expanded Early Intervention Service | **Expand eligibility for learning support** | Address systemic exclusion |
| Coordination of support | Simplify funding arrangements | Learning support coordinators in all Year 1–8 schools from 2028 | **Proposed single coordinating agency** | Proposed Māori-led taskforce |
| Clear delivery target or timeframe | 1,000 additional aides; implementation details still needed | Two million extra aide hours annually and coordinators from 2028 | More detail needed on funding and implementation | More detail needed on funding and implementation |

Sources: [Labour](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-provide-more-help-in-the-classroom/), [National](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly), [Greens](https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2026) and [Te Pāti Māori](https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/education_training). [labour.org.nz](https://www.labour.org.nz/news/release-labour-to-provide-more-help-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [national.org.nz](https://www.national.org.nz/policies/education-teaching-the-basics-brilliantly?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [thedlist.co.nz](https://thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/party-policies-simplified-education/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [maoriparty.org.nz](https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/education_training?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**My assessment:** Labour and National currently provide the clearest measurable commitments to additional classroom staffing, although their funding models and delivery timetables differ. The Greens have a particularly relevant proposal on widening access to support and coordinating specialist services. Te Pāti Māori has outlined a broader approach to inclusion and resourcing, but the implementation and funding details need further clarification.

That is a comparison of the published proposals, not a prediction of which party would deliver the best results.

---

## 4. The crucial issue: Will your child actually receive more help?

Given that you sometimes reduce paid work to care for your child, I would look particularly closely at whether a party's policies could reduce the amount of support you have to provide yourself.

A promise to employ more teacher aides is useful, but the benefit to your family depends on how those aides are allocated.

For example, a national increase in teacher-aide hours could be spread across many schools. Your child's school might receive additional hours without your child receiving any additional one-to-one assistance.

Likewise, a learning support coordinator might improve communication and access to services without directly providing the support your child needs during lessons.

I would therefore ask each party the following questions.

### Questions to put to the parties before voting

**1. How will the funding reach my child's school?**

- What is the total additional funding allocated specifically to learning support?
- Is this new funding, or will it be redirected from other education services?
- How will funding be distributed among schools?
- Will schools receive funding based on students' assessed needs?

**2. What assistance will children actually receive?**

- How many additional teacher-aide hours will be available?
- Will children who need individual assistance be able to access it?
- Will funding cover specialist services, assistive technology and accessible learning materials?
- What will happen to children whose needs are significant but who do not qualify for existing schemes?

**3. When will the support be available?**

- What is the implementation date?
- How will the party address existing waiting lists?
- How will it ensure schools can recruit and retain enough qualified staff?
- What happens if a school cannot obtain the specialist help a child needs?

**4. How will the policy help families maintain paid work?**

- Will the plan reduce situations in which parents must attend school to help their child?
- How will schools respond when a child cannot participate safely or effectively because appropriate support is unavailable?
- Will the party measure whether children are actually receiving their allocated assistance?

The last group of questions is particularly important in your circumstances. A policy might improve education outcomes without necessarily reducing the care burden on parents. You deserve to know whether a party has considered both.

## 5. One independent resource worth watching

The [Disabled Persons Assembly New Zealand's 2026 election scorecard](https://www.dpa.org.nz/news-and-information/latest-news/disability-scorecard-for-2026-general-election/) is especially relevant to your concerns.

The Assembly, alongside CCS Disability Action and Your Way Kia Roha, has asked the main parties whether they support **needs-based, predictable funding for disabled students in mainstream schools and kura**.

The question explicitly covers teacher aides, specialist support, accessible resources, assistive technology and reasonable accommodations. Those are precisely the kinds of commitments that can distinguish a general promise of inclusion from a plan to make inclusion work in practice. The scorecard's results had not yet been published on the page I reviewed. [dpa.org.nz](https://www.dpa.org.nz/news-and-information/latest-news/disability-scorecard-for-2026-general-election/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

It is worth checking again before election day.

---

## My bottom line

If I were assessing these policies specifically against your stated priorities, I would start with three questions:

- **Who has committed money and staff to deliver extra help in the classroom?** Labour's $80 million for 1,000 additional teacher aides and National's target of two million extra teacher-aide hours annually are the clearest measurable commitments I found.
- **Who is tackling barriers to accessing support?** The Greens' proposal to expand eligibility and establish a single coordinating agency deserves close examination.
- **Who explains how the system will change, and how families will benefit?** Te Pāti Māori has outlined a broader inclusion-focused approach, but more detail is needed on its funding and implementation.

I would not choose between these parties on headline numbers alone. The key question is whether their commitments translate into **reliable, needs-based support for your child at their ordinary school, without leaving you to fill the gaps by reducing your paid work**.

Before casting your vote, compare each party's latest education policies and funding details, and look for clear answers about eligibility, staffing, implementation dates and accountability. Those details are more informative than a general promise that every child will receive the education they deserve.

## Gemini

Answer ID: feeca0d9-8297-4712-be83-a27bca203498

For families navigating learning support in New Zealand schools, the distinction between high-level aspirations and concrete funding mechanisms is critical. When parties outline *how* they will fund and deliver support in ordinary (mainstream) classrooms—rather than offering generalized promises—their approaches typically fall into specific structural philosophies. 

The major political parties address the mechanics of funding and delivering extra learning support in mainstream schools through distinct frameworks:

### 1. The Green Party
* **Delivery Mechanism:** Focuses heavily on expanding the mainstream and inclusive education model, aiming to close funding gaps that currently force schools to pull money from operational grants. They explicitly target the reliance on insecure, short-term urgent funding for teacher aides.
* **Funding Approach:** Proposes a phased, multi-year funding rollout through successive Budgets to move toward a centrally funded, highly secure model. Their plan includes dedicated funding to incrementally transition toward lower student-to-teacher-aide ratios across all year levels, establish specialized professional learning and development (PLD) funds for educators, and guarantee non-contact planning time for support staff.

### 2. The ACT Party
* **Delivery Mechanism:** Advocates for structural choice and individualization rather than expanding centralized bureaucratic delivery through the Ministry of Education. 
* **Funding Approach:** Promotes mechanisms like **Student Education Accounts**, which would attach public funding directly to the student (approximately $12,000 per year) for parents to direct toward registered schooling or specialized learning support options of their choice. The logic is that direct, portable funding empowers parents to purchase the specific help their child needs rather than waiting for state-allocated school resources.

### 3. National (The Governing Party Framework)
* **Delivery Mechanism:** Focuses on national consistency, standardized assessment frameworks, and providing flexibility within existing operational baselines, alongside broader refreshes of strategies like the New Zealand Disability Strategy.
* **Funding Approach:** Emphasizes fiscal stability and targeted initiatives within regular budget cycles rather than sweeping systemic overhauls. Delivery relies primarily on managing existing centralized workforces (such as Learning Support Coordinators and Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) allocations) and driving accountability through centralized performance metrics.

### 4. Labour Party
* **Delivery Mechanism:** Centers a rights-based, equity-focused model aligned with the *Enabling Good Lives* principles, aiming to scale up specialist services and Learning Support Coordinators within state and state-integrated schools.
* **Funding Approach:** Historically relies on injection-based funding via rolling budget packages to increase specialist teacher numbers and resource pockets. However, details heavily emphasize strengthening public service delivery networks over alternative market-driven or portable funding vouchers.

---

### Key Questions to Ask Local Candidates
Because funding delivery models vary significantly—from the Greens' centralized, phased staffing increases to ACT's portable, individual funding accounts—you can press candidates on the mechanics by asking:
* *"Does your party's policy rely on schools having to 'top up' learning support from their operational budgets, or is the service fully funded from the centre?"*
* *"If funding is allocated to schools, how do you ensure it reaches children with moderate needs who currently miss out on criteria like ORS?"*

## Google AI Mode

Answer ID: b46c25f9-cf7f-4c86-bf51-d7b9639eb0dd

**Major New Zealand political parties approach learning support in ordinary mainstream schools through distinct funding mechanisms, staffing commitments, and delivery models.**

Evaluating how parties plan to fund and deliver this help—rather than offering general aspirations—requires looking at their concrete commitments, target staff ratios, and funding mechanisms.

* * *

Comparison of Party Approaches to Ordinary School Learning Support

Party| Primary Funding & Delivery Mechanism| Key Staffing & Operational Commitment
---|---|---
[New Zealand National Party](https://www.national.org.nz/)**(Incumbent Government)**| Direct baseline budget allocations via the Ministry of Education, emphasizing expanded teacher aide hours and centralized tracking.| Focuses on increasing **teacher aide hours** and scaling frontline resourcing while critiquing past implementation gaps.
[New Zealand Labour Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Labour_Party)| Centralized state funding through phased rollouts, historically tying delivery to systemic reviews and targeted cohort caps.| Previously championed **Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs)** in schools and committed to lowering repayment/debt pressures, though critics point to incomplete ORS funding un-capping.
[Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand](https://www.greens.org.nz/about)| Expanding access criteria and integrating resources through a **single dedicated agency** for health and disability needs.| Commits to implementing the Ministry of Education’s _"_[Framework for Action: A quality education for all](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/strategies-policies-and-programmes/learning-support/settlement-between-ihc-ministry-education-and-minister-education/framework-action-quality-education-all) _"_ and widening eligibility benchmarks instead of tight triage tiers.
[ACT New Zealand](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_New_Zealand)| Market-driven alternative choices, shifting emphasis toward specialized settings and **charter schools** alongside mainstream options.| Emphasizes parental choice outside the traditional public system rather than scaling internal state-run coordinator networks.
[New Zealand First](https://www.nzfirst.nz/)| General commitment to inclusive education integrated into baseline public education expenditure.| Focuses on traditional classroom stability and supporting mainstream settings through existing Ministry channels without major structural overhauls.

* * *

Detailed Breakdown by Party

 * * **National Party:** Emphasizes measurable increases in **teacher aide hours** and tracking baseline delivery. Their approach relies on incremental operational increases through the regular budget, arguing that prior Labour strategies left large gaps between announced policy and actual classroom hours.

 * **Labour Party:** Focuses on systemic staffing structures like **Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs)** embedded inside schools. While they promise systematic relief, opponents and disability advocates note that past targets—such as un-capping Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding—faced partial rollouts or delayed timelines.

 * **Green Party:** Proposes a structural shift by creating a **single agency** to coordinate health, disability, and learning support, moving away from fragmented agency handoffs between health and education. They also aim to broaden the legal and operational criteria so children do not have to reach a crisis point or severe threshold to qualify. [The D*List]

 * [ACT New Zealand](https://www.act.org.nz/policies)

**:** Takes a different philosophy by arguing that mainstream ordinary schools may not suit every child, promoting **charter/partnership schools** and expanded parental choice so families can select specialized environments rather than relying solely on reform inside local zoning schools. [The D*List]

 * [New Zealand First](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_First)

**:** Expresses broad support for inclusion, generally favoring practical classroom-level stability and working within existing administrative frameworks rather than sweeping structural reorganizations. [The D*List]

 *

To help narrow down which party best matches your situation, could you share:

 * Whether your child has an **official diagnosis** (such as ORS funding status or neurodivergence)?
 * Whether you are looking primarily for **in-class teacher aide/coordinator hours** or **external specialist access** (speech, psychology, occupational therapy)?

## AI Overviews

Answer ID: 9734222c-3704-4bb4-8478-a5e83d49fa1b

For the 2026 New Zealand general election, **the National and Labour parties offer specific, costed operational models** detailing how they intend to deliver and fund increased learning support in ordinary schools. The Green Party and The Opportunity Party (TOP) lean toward broader structural overhauls and expanding eligibility criteria.

* * *

Comparison of Learning Support Delivery Models

Political Party| Funding Mechanism & Commitments| Delivery Mechanism in Schools
---|---|---
**National Party**| **$2.5 billion total investment** over the forecast period (commenced in Budget 2025). Includes:
• $266m for Early Intervention
• $122m for ORS overhaul
• $192m for Learning Support Coordinators| • **Guaranteed ORS Funding:** Shifting the [Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS)](https://www.govt.nz/browse/education/learning-support/help-for-children-with-learning-support-needs/) into a demand-driven model.
• **Staffing Surge:** Delivering over 2 million annual extra teacher-aide hours by 2028. Funding 560+ FTE specialists and new Year 1–8 Learning Support Coordinators.
**Labour Party**| **$80 million over four years** integrated directly into their fiscal plan.| • **Teacher Aide Reform:** Operationalizing a shift to fund 1,000 additional teacher aides using a centralized, predictable model similar to core teacher salaries.
• **Needs-Based Allocation:** Distributing hours using tools like the Equity Index and per capita assessments, bypassing strict clinical diagnosis constraints so ordinary schools can allocate help flexibly.
**Green Party**| Funded through broader revenue mechanisms, such as a **wealth tax and mega-corporate taxation**.| • **Centralized Coordination:** Establishing a single, dedicated agency to coordinate and resource specialist support across health and disability needs.
• **Policy Alignment:** Pledging to expand access criteria and implement all actions under the Ministry's _Framework for Action: A quality education for all_.
**The Opportunity Party (TOP)**| Part of a wider, independent **10-year cross-party education infrastructure plan**.| • **Universal Specialist Access:** Mandating that every school has localized, direct access to learning support coordinators, speech-language therapists, educational psychologists, and mental health resources.

* * *

Strategic Differences in Execution

1\. National: Demand-Driven Schemes & Operational Scaling

 * **The Approach:** National focusing on executing their long-term infrastructure changes from government. Rather than rewriting how schools operate, they are scaling up the volume of hours and capping wait times.

 * **Key Detail for Parents:** Their model makes [ORS funding](https://communitylaw.org.nz/community-law-manual/test/learning-support/) demand-driven. This removes the rigid, fixed-pool limits that previously saw high-needs children turned away simply because the budget cap for the year had been hit.

2\. Labour: Centralized Salaries & Structural De-bureaucratization

 * **The Approach:** Labour’s plan changes _how_ teacher aides are employed. Instead of schools relying on operational grants, local fundraising, or complex individual applications, teacher aides will be funded directly like regular classroom teachers.

 * **Key Detail for Parents:** By tying allocation to the Equity Index rather than strict diagnoses, this model reduces the time parents spend fighting for a formal label before their child can receive classroom help.

3\. Greens & TOP: Systemic Overhauls

 * **The Approach:** Both the Greens and TOP focus on structural changes to eliminate regional disparities.

 * **Key Detail for Parents:** The Greens' "single coordinating agency" seeks to unify health and educational funding so families don't get caught in the gap between what the Ministry of Education covers versus Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora). TOP focuses on eliminating political interference by handing delivery over to an independent Curriculum and Assessment Council.