Charter schools: Northland teacher says submission timeframe isn’t long enough

David Seymour says the PPTA should focus on empowering parents and educators to create successful futures for students. Photo / Marty Melville

A Northland secondary school teacher says the submission deadline on legislation to bring back charter schools is far too early to make an informed contribution.

Emma Afa, teacher and Post Primary School Teachers Union (PPTA) / Te Wehengarua spokesperson, said more time was needed, especially as the union believed the proposed changes would be harmful for public education.

However, Associate Education Minister David Seymour said the PPTA was simply adopting a “spray and walk away method” to make “unfounded criticism” about charter schools stick.

After a PPTA Ombudsman complaint about the lack of information on the re-implementation of charter schools, four documents had been released by the Ministry of Education as of last Thursday.

Afa said the way information had been “withheld” had not been useful given the short July 25 deadline for submissions on the Education and Training Amendment Act.

“PPTA Te Wehengarua has had to make several complaints to the Ombudsman just to get basic information released and there is plenty of information that is still not being released.

“It’s not open government, it’s not the Kiwi way and it treats parents and school communities with contempt.”

She called upon the Government to be more open.

The PPTA learned recently the proposal is a first phase for charter schools and there were intentions to enable businesses to own multiple charter schools, she said.

“We know from our colleagues in the United Kingdom that these trusts result in funds being moved further away from the classroom management salaries, and increases the risk of corruption.

“Individual schools lose a lot of their autonomy and local communities have less involvement with and input into their schools.

“And there is a high amount of turnover within these trusts – and each time a group of schools changes hands that costs money that is not being spent on teaching and learning.”

There were still questions about the rights of parents, students and communities, she said.

Seymour said the union should instead be asking how parents and educators can be empowered to set students up for a successful future.

“Charter schools in the USA have raised student achievement above that of local state schools wherever they have been tried.

“Stanford University has just published the most comprehensive research yet which shows that charter schools have far higher levels of achievement and that the students from lower socio-economic backgrounds experience greater outcomes.

“Parents should be able to decide what’s best for their children. Children who need and want an extension, who face socio-economic barriers, have disabilities, have behavioural diagnoses or learning challenges, these children are not well-served by a rigid state-run system.

“They deserve choice.”

On Thursday, Seymour announced applications were now open for those wanting to establish charter schools.

The two-step process will involve checking proposals as well as assessing plans, capabilities of sponsors, the standard of tuition and level of support from the community.

Sponsors would have a fixed-term contract of ten years, with two rights of renewal for ten years each. This would be conditional on meeting the terms of contract, he said.

Matters were on track for the first to be open in Term 1, 2025 but Seymour did not provide further information as to where.

Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.