National Turn Their Back On Parents

ACT Wellington Central Candidate Stephen Whittington today called on National to release the school performance information held on the SchoolSMART website so that parents can make better and more informed decisions about their child’s education options.

“SchoolSMART is a website run by the Ministry of Education which collects and compares up to 36 indicators of school performance, including NCEA results,” Mr Whittington said.

“ACT believes that parents should be able to access data available on the SchoolSMART website in order to gain a better understanding of how their child’s school is performing. This will empower parents to make better decisions about their child’s education options.

“Just last week an Official Information Act request to release the information held on the School Smart website was declined. Now, National are claiming that after the election, they will make more information available to parents.

“ACT wants to know why are parents are being denied access to this data, when principals, teachers, and bureaucrats have access? When Deputy Prime Minister Bill English was National’s education spokesman, he campaigned to have this data released. So why, since being in Government, have National members changed their minds?

“National says it believes in a brighter future – but it’s clear their future will leave parents disempowered. Parents need all the facts – as available on SchoolSMART – to make informed choices for their children.

“If individual freedom and choice were really core values of the National Party, they would have already made all of this information available to parents” Mr Whittington said.

ENDS

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