"The decision to close charter schools goes against everything Jacinda Ardern says she stands for and will irreparably tarnish her brand", says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“This is the beginning of the end for her. It’s still a way off, but we’ll look back at the handling of charter schools as the first sign Brand Jacinda was a fake front.

“The Prime Minister said she would put ‘kids at the heart of everything this Government does’. Clearly that doesn’t apply to 1500 disadvantaged kids at charter schools who’d find success and a love of learning.

"She has shown breathtaking hypocrisy in taking this decision.

“Ardern has also displayed a lack of leadership by bowing to the demands of the teacher union bosses in Wellington.

“The Government has told charter schools they must apply by tomorrow to re-join the state system, or cease to exist.

“If those kids wanted to be in state schools they would never have joined charter schools in the first place. How is it possible that schools with the same governance, the Wellington-controlled funding formula, and the same Wellington-negotiated employment agreements, will get a different result?

"ACT calls on the Government to honour the contracts of existing charter schools rather than riding roughshod over their wishes and forcing them back into the state system” says Mr Seymour.

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