Five new charter schools are set to open in 2025. Proponents praise the schools’ flexibility in curriculum and funding use, but critics argue this approach diverts resources from public education.
Charter schools were originally introduced under John Key’s National government, but were shut down when Labour came to power.
With the ACT Party pushing their reintroduction, the schools face potential closure again if Labour wins in 2026.
Former Education Minister Jan Tinetti said, “Labour has got rid of these before, and we will get rid of them again… because they are bad for young people and bad for their learning.”
Educator Alwyn Poole described the situation at the time as “political ping pong.”
This time critics, including education unions, argue that the $153m allocated to charter schools could be better spent on public education resources, such as teacher aides.
Liam Rutherford of NZEI Te Riu Roa stated that such funding could provide 700 additional aides, significantly impacting classroom outcomes.
Similarly, the Post Primary Teachers’ Association has launched an online campaign opposing charter schools, calling them a step toward “privatising the public education system.”
However, Poole, who had applications for new charter schools rejected, accused the government of unfair selection processes.
Academics have also suggested the charter schools represent “privatisation by stealth.”
Read more over at The Spinoff
The Centrist is a new online news platform that strives to provide a balance to the public debate - where this article was sourced.
Former Education Minister Jan Tinetti said, “Labour has got rid of these before, and we will get rid of them again… because they are bad for young people and bad for their learning.”
Educator Alwyn Poole described the situation at the time as “political ping pong.”
This time critics, including education unions, argue that the $153m allocated to charter schools could be better spent on public education resources, such as teacher aides.
Liam Rutherford of NZEI Te Riu Roa stated that such funding could provide 700 additional aides, significantly impacting classroom outcomes.
Similarly, the Post Primary Teachers’ Association has launched an online campaign opposing charter schools, calling them a step toward “privatising the public education system.”
However, Poole, who had applications for new charter schools rejected, accused the government of unfair selection processes.
Academics have also suggested the charter schools represent “privatisation by stealth.”
Read more over at The Spinoff
The Centrist is a new online news platform that strives to provide a balance to the public debate - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
If we are talking money to support education, how about disestablishing the NZ Council for Educational Research, which has been responsible for the futile direction in the learning of our children, which makes charter schools necessary?
There needs to be a revolution in education purging the entire country and the schools of ineffective methods which are causing massive failure. If reading is the quintessential element of education then we have been cursed with the most destructive reading method possible for about 50 years . At last research has revealed its devastating bad nature and failure in a research programme involving hundreds of thousands of students who were given the infernal NZ designed remedial Reading Recovery . Those children who did the RR programme were worse off then those who were not given it. Yet this programme monopolized the NZ reading scene for over 40 years because of a staunch ideological belief based on false evolutionary theory. But RR is only the tip of the iceberg of our deluded education system riddled with many other destructive beliefs and programmes which our unions and educational establishment refuse to have challenged. The people in these are more interested in their ideology than the academic achievement of all NZ children. That is the reason they hate charter schools.
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