21 December 2012

Treasury documents show failed charter schools plan should be dumped

Treasury documents on the creation of charter schools are in agreement with criticism from the Ministry of Education, showing the planned schools forced upon New Zealand children by the National / ACT coalition agreement should be dumped, the Green Party said today.

“The Green Party agrees with Treasury and the Ministry of Education that New Zealand kids need registered teachers, not unqualified adults pushing private agendas,” said Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty.

“Rather than requiring concerned citizens to spend their summer writing submissions against the Education Amendment Bill, the Government should announce that it is withdrawing its plans.

“New Zealand kids need investment in quality public education, not the privatisation by stealth that the charter schools plan provides.

“Treasury warns of ‘performance risks for nearby state schools’ in areas where charter schools are formed, which could lead to ‘significant risks for the cohorts of students’ in these areas.

“Kiwi kids deserve a Government that truly cares about quality public education, rather than one that continues to put them, and our education system, at risk.”

For more information: Treasury documents on Partnership Schools | Kura Hourua
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/education/partnershipschools

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On The 2013 Budget

Among Thursday’s main talking points:

We are apparently on track for a margin-of-error $75 million surplus, now in sight for 2014/15. But this sickly creature is hobbling out of the lab on the basis of all kinds of facilitative conjuring: such as trimming by $200 million the amount of new spending next time around.

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Auckland Discord: Govt’s Power Hungry Housing Approach A Threat - Labour

Last week the Government said this, ‘The Government commits not to use any proposed or existing powers ... to override the council's planning and consenting processes’. But its housing Bill says this; ‘If an accord cannot be reached in an area of severe housing unaffordability, the Government can intervene by establishing special housing areas and issuing consents for developers’. More>>

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The Government is trying to pass legislation under urgency which would make the Anadarko Amendment – which limits protest at sea – apply to an additional 1.7 million square kilometres, the Green Party said today. More>>

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