Charter school applications open: Auckland school principal on why he is applying

Associate Education Minister David Seymour. Photo / Marty Melville

Charter school applications open today, marking another step forward for David Seymour’s plans to re-introduce the regime in New Zealand.

For schools such as Tīpene | St Stephen’s School in Auckland, the charter school model provides an opportunity to do things differently for students under-served by the mainstream system. But for education unions, Labour and other opponents, the $153 million in funding allocated to create up to 50 charter schools could have been better spent elsewhere in the system.

“Sponsors” can apply to establish a new charter school or convert a state school to a charter school from today. Requirements they would need to meet include being “fit and proper persons” to run a school and having a “viable high-level proposal”.

Seymour, who is the Associate Education Minister, says there has been “significant interest” in the model so far.

Around 100 people or groups are sought further information, including from schools focusing on Māori excellence, te reo Māori, Pacific values, STEM, neurodiversity, dyslexia, flexible hours and online, Christian values, sports academy and military.

One principal preparing to apply is Nathan Durie of Tīpene | St Stephen’s School, a historic boys’ boarding school in Auckland’s Bombay Hills that is set to reopen next year after closing more than two decades ago.

Durie says he gets there is opposition to the idea of charter schools, but the model offered flexibility in how and what they could teach which he believes would better serve his predominantly Māori and Pasifika students.

St Stephen's School in Bombay closed in 2000.

“The funding mechanism is going to enable us some malleability of a process that this far has done a pretty poor job for that cohort of people.”

He says poor outcomes in the mainstream education system for these students was not “a reflection on us, it’s a reflection of the system”.

He says the education system had gone unchallenged for too long, other than by movements like kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa and wharekura.

“The flexibility aspect allows us some opportunities to engage in a different way with a pedagogical, philosophical approach that we think is going to work for Māori and in this case, Māori boys.

“Charter schools on their own won’t necessarily be the answer, but it provides that place of flexibility and to have a go at doing something that transforms the delivery of education.”

Act leader and Associate Education Minister David Seymour (left) with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (right). Photo / RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Seymour says the schools - which would be government-funded and not required to teach the national curriculum - provided educators with greater autonomy and raised overall educational achievement, especially among underachieving and disengaged students.

The schools would be subject to higher levels monitoring and accountability, he said, and could be shut down if they did not achieve the outcomes they were funded to achieve.

The Labour Party has slammed Seymour’s plans, saying charter schools were “driven by ideology rather than evidence” and would not increase achievement. The party’s education spokeswoman Jan Tinetti said there were more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories.

Former Education Minister and Labour education spokeswoman Jan Tinetti. Photo / Andrew Warner

“Our public education system should serve every child and converting 35 state schools to be charter schools will take desperately needed resources from the state system.”

Education unions have also pushed back, saying funding is desperately needed in other parts of the public school sector, such as for teacher aides.

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa has also criticised the policy, calling charter schools an “expensive distraction and diversion of funds” and saying the $153m in funding was “desperately needed” elsewhere in the sector.

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie has previously said there had been a “glaring lack of consultation and information” from the Ministry of Education and the Education Ministers on how charter schools would work.

Northland secondary school teacher and Post Primary School Teachers’ Association (PPTA)/Te Wehengarua spokeswoman Emma Afa says the submission deadline on legislation to bring back charter schools is far too early to make an informed contribution.

The legislation is currently going through Parliament. If passed it would allow the Education Minister to direct under-performing state schools (excluding state-integrated schools, distance schools, kura kaupapa Māori, specialist schools and designated character schools) to convert into charter schools.

Afa says more time was needed, especially as the union believed the proposed changes would be harmful for public education.

The first charter schools are expected to open in Term 1 next year.

Seymour said sponsors would have a fixed-term contract of 10 years to operate a charter school, with two rights of renewal for 10 years each.

All fixed-term periods would be conditional on the school continuing to meet the terms of its contract, he said.

“The second stage is a detailed assessment of their plans for the school before final decisions are made later this year. This will evaluate the focus of the proposed school, the capability of the sponsor, the standard of tuition to be provided, the level of support from the community, and financial and network implications for the Crown.”

Charter schools operated in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018. They were a long-standing Act Party policy when it was a support party for the National Government.

However, they were abolished in 2018 by the previous Labour coalition Government. Charter schools at the time could transition into character schools, which are entirely government-funded for years 0-13 and teach the national curriculum that aligns with their “character”, such as an iwi or educational philosophy.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.