Charter school lolly scramble could close CHCH schools

8 March 2012

PPTA is calling for a moratorium on the Christchurch charter school lolly scramble that could see quake stricken schools forced to close their doors.

President Robin Duff was shocked to discover former Christchurch mayor Vicki Buck had put her hand up to create one, at a time when thousands of students had fled the city and a school she had set up herself – Unlimited – languished on an unsuitable site.

“She appears to have abandoned her ‘vision’ for the excitement of setting up something new,” he said.

PPTA has already written to Prime Minister John Key calling for a moratorium on the charter school slated for East Christchurch - and Buck’s enthusiasm for a project that has barely been outlined, was particularly concerning, Duff said.

“The government needs to support and appreciate the efforts of Christchurch’s existing schools, which are working hard to provide some normality for their students, not create uncertainty by ripping resources from them to create new schools.”

More than 3000 students have already left Christchurch, 1500 of those of secondary-age, Duff said.

“That is the size of a large secondary school. Adding an experimental, unregulated school to that mix can only mean that another will have to close,” he said.

Duff challenged Buck to step up and support the schools she had already created and the Prime Minister to put the brakes on John Banks’ ideological and opportunistic scheme.

ENDS

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