Spotlight on charter schools welcomed by NZEI

A Member’s Bill that would require charter schools to follow the same national curricula as state schools has been welcomed by NZEI Te Riu Roa.

NZEI says the bill, sponsored by Phil Goff MP and drawn from the ballot last Thursday, could make a useful contribution to public debate about what charter schools were currently offering students, and whether the schools should have any place in the future of New Zealand education.

However, legislation needed to go further, by either abolishing the schools or banning for-profit charter schools and requiring all teachers to be qualified and registered.

“Successive scandals in the National-ACT coalition’s charter school programme have raised serious questions about the quality of teaching and learning in these schools,” NZEI campaign director Stephanie Mills says.

“The Minister’s decision about the future of the Te Pūmanawa o te Wairua charter school at Whangaruru is just one example of Ministerial inaction and delay in the face of a litany of questionable decisions and activities by charter schools.

“If all students in New Zealand are to be assured of a quality education, then the very least the Government should be doing is ensuring all teachers at the schools are qualified and registered and the charter schools are meeting the requirements of our world-recognised national curricula.”