Whanganui school principals are cautiously optimistic about government plans to change the decile system.
The decile system, which was introduced in 2008, rates schools on a scale of 1 to 10, based on the socio-economic position of a school's student community.
Low decile schools receive more government funding than those with high deciles, but it's not a reflection of the quality of the education the school provides.
The government has proposed a replacement for the decile system, called the predictive risk index. This would see students assessed individually on a number of risk factors, including whether the parents were on a benefit or had been in prison, or any cases of sexual abuse in the family.
A school's funding would be based on the number of students with risk factors.
Peter Kaua, principal of Whanganui City College, a decile 2 school, said he was cautiously supportive of the proposed change.
"I'm supportive, but I want to know more about what the replacement is going to be," Mr Kaua said.
"Any replacement is going to take a while."
Mr Kaua said the main concern for him, as a principal, was that the pupils at his school were "happy and safe".
"The argument is that low-decile schools get more money, but we've got a lot of kids at our school and that money's well used."
Karl Zimmerman, the principal of St Anne's School, which is decile 5, said he was reluctant to give his opinion on what was "a lot of speculation".
"No final decision has yet been made by the government."
Mr Zimmerman said his main concern was that any new system be equitable for all children.
"Will it be fair for all children? Will it help all children be successful? When children are struggling it's not just because they come from a low socio-economic background - there are many indicators."
Education minister Hekia Parata said no firm decision had been made yet on improving the funding system.
"Any changes to the funding system won't be in place till 2020," she said.