Charter school back-down a victory for kids

The Education Minister’s confirmation today that there will be no new charter schools is a victory for the children and for public education, the Green Party said today.

In answer to Parliamentary questions from Green Education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty today, the Minister confirmed she was not planning a third Partnership School application round this year.

“This is an admission of failure,” Ms Delahunty said.

“Charter Schools were supposed to be the Government’s big solution to education, yet from the moment they opened they’ve been besieged with problems.

“They were supposed to target the Government’s priority learners, but in Parliament today Hekia Parata confirmed that there were no high needs children – a priority group - enrolled in any of the schools.

“Hekia Parata has done the right thing by putting an end to this expensive experiment and now her focus must go on ensuring children in the established schools get an education that’s up to scratch.

“There is no proof that charter schools are working for children at all. A second round of schools was approved to open this year, before assessments of the five that opened last year had been made public.

“Today Minister Parata confirmed she had not published the reports because she hadn’t made her “own assessment” of them.

“Many of the people involved in charter schools on the ground have the best intentions for pupils, but a model that undermines public education was never the answer,” Ms Delahunty said.

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