Children paying the price for charter school stitch up

29 September 2014

New Zealand children will be paying a high price for a one-seat deal between ACT and National, with an expansion of the beleaguered charter school system says education union NZEI Te Riu Roa.

“While new MP David Seymour has missed out on ministerial responsibilities, John Key has given the green light for the equally untested and unaccountable charter schools model to be expanded under the new government,” said NZEI Te Riu Roa President Judith Nowotarski."This is despite a lack of evidence that these schools lift the success of education systems anywhere in the world."

“There is no appetite for the schools from parents or the community, and there are significant concerns about the charter schools experiment in its infancy.”

“The charter schools policy continues to be described as a trial, but more and more charter schools are being rolled out before any independent review has been completed,” said Judith Nowotarski.

“More public money is being thrown at charter schools – up to four times the per-student rate of public schools, and millions of dollars of establishment funding – all to appease a political party that failed to secure even 1% of party votes at the last election.

Mrs Nowotarski said these schools pose a considerable threat to nearby public schools that don’t have the funding to supply the same bells and whistles as the favoured charter schools, and that charter schools retain their funding despite their rolls dropping below “guaranteed” minimum numbers.

ACT-National confidence and supply agreement

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