Charter schools face scrutiny over reporting requirements

Associate Education Minister David Seymour is adamant there are clear reporting requirements for charter schools. Photo / George Heard

• David Seymour insists charter schools have clear reporting requirements amid calls for robust evaluation.
• The Government allocated $153 million to establish 50 charter schools over four years.
• Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime argues for better accountability, suggesting funds be redirected to the school lunch programme.

David Seymour is adamant there are clear reporting requirements for charter schools amid calls for a robust evaluation of them.

The Government has allocated $153 million to bring back the schools, with the first seven opening in February this year.

The funding is to be spread over four years to establish 50 charter schools – 15 new and 35 converted from state schools.

They have greater flexibility for innovation, but also increased oversight of performance outcomes.

Schools are required to adhere to the Performance Management Framework, which defines outcomes, measures and targets, and methods to track these.

If a charter school isn’t meeting its contracted targets, it can face interventions, which include being shut down for poor performance.

The sponsors are accountable for the performance of a school.

Charter School Agency chief executive Jane Lee said existing schools need to file their first Annual Public Report in May 2026.

“Initially it was thought that schools would need to file annual public reports in May 2025, but we reconsidered the reporting schedule given the first tranche of charter schools only opened in Term 1 this year,“ she said.

“We subsequently advised schools that the reporting date is May 2026.”

The reports relate to the previous school year, she said.

Lee added that schools’ self-audit reports are due with the agency “towards the end of the year”.

She originally said these files, which cover performance outcomes, financial compliance, attendance and achievement up to the end of June, were due in September.

Labour’s education spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime claimed it was a deliberate move to release annual reports near the end of the Government’s term.

“What we want to see is proper robust evaluation, given the significant level of funding that is being invested into these charter schools, more than five times more than a public school,” she said.

“I don’t think it is too much to ask this Government and minister [Seymour] for that level of accountability for public funding.”

Prime added that charter schools are a waste of money and time.

Labour's Willow-Jean Prime wants to see a proper "robust evaluation" of charter schools. Photo / RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Associate Education Minister Seymour said the Charter School Authorisation Board is responsible for overseeing the performance of charter schools and can intervene when it’s lagging.

“The board receives regular reports on matters such as attendance and enrolment in addition to the six-monthly academic and financial performance reports,” he said.

Seymour added that the reporting schedule is efficient.

“[It] balances the need to allow the schools’ leaders the freedom to self-manage inherent in their contract with the Crown, against their clear requirement to meet and report on the agreed performance and progress standards accurately and on time.”

But Prime said Seymour has talked big game about charter schools – and there’s no evidence yet to show they’re working.

“He said that a number of public schools were going to convert to charter schools, but what we have seen is that there have been zero public schools who have converted to charter schools in the last financial year,” she said.

“The concern is that there isn’t any proper evaluation. So all we hear is what the minister is saying, his anecdotal evidence or other people’s personal views and opinions on it.”

Prime suggested the funding for charter schools would be better invested into the Government’s school lunch programme.

“I’m calling on David Seymour to stop this vanity project of his, stop wasting that money and to instead properly invest in the school lunches programme, which I believe he is running into the ground by its underfunding.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. Jaime joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.