Key points:
- The Coalition Government reintroduced charter schools, saying they provide choice to parents
- They were previously introduced by John Key's National-led government, then scrapped by Jacinda Ardern's Labour-led government
- Labour now says it would scrap them again, saying students don't benefit
Labour's education spokesperson says she wants to scrap charter schools if the party regains power, potentially cutting short their return to the education system.
The policy featured in both National and ACT's pre-election education policies, with the first charter schools now potentially opening in five months' time.
Fixed-term contracts being signed for the schools are 10 years long, but former education minister Jan Tinetti told Q+A that a hypothetical future Labour administration wouldn't back down at scrapping the schools and their contracts.
"Labour has got rid of these before, and we will get rid of them again, because they are bad for young people and bad for their learning," she said.
"We will be looking at legal advice around that, but we will get rid of charter schools.
"We will not have charter schools."
Labour has argued that the schools cost more than state schools and are a path towards privatising education. National and ACT contend charter schools provide choice to parents, with autonomy allowing for greater innovation among different institutions.
The Government's legislation to enable the schools has been moving through Parliament.
Charter schools — which are not run by the government and do not need to teach the state-set curriculum — were first allowed during John Key's National government.
They went on to be abolished by Jacinda Ardern's first Labour coalition government.
Willie Jackson on side over charter schools - Tinetti
In her interview, Tinetti was challenged on Labour's long-standing position on the schooling policy, after her party's Māori development spokesperson Willie Jackson told Q+A that there was "no doubt" the schools had helped Māori in their previous iteration.
Jackson was the chief executive of the Manukau Urban Māori Authority, which helped open a charter school, enabled by the then-National government in 2015.
Tinetti said Labour had a "very, very strong position" on charter schools, adding that she had spoken to Jackson over his position.
"I absolutely understand why Māori are attracted to charter schools, because the education system, as we all know, has let Māori down," she said. "Maybe that was the spike that they needed at that time, but there are better ways that it can work".
Asked if the former Māori development minister was wrong, she said, "in a way, yes."
Tinetti added: "Having spoken to Willie, Willie is more attracted to the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal and the decisions that have come through there and how we can truly have the opportunity to look at how a system can be created for Māori by Māori."
Reforming Tomorrow's Schools again on the table
The former education minister also raised the possibility of wanting to again review the fundamental structural make-up of New Zealand schools.
During the first term of the previous Labour government, then-education minister Chris Hipkins looked to reform the Tomorrow's Schools model of devolved school governance, but ultimately rejected several recommendations for more radical reforms.
Speaking to Q+A, Tinetti opened the door to a further look at school governance, saying New Zealand has "the most devolved system in the world".
"We're not going to make the biggest difference until we look at the structure of what's happening in New Zealand's schooling system overall," Tinetti said.
She continued: "I really strongly, strongly know that unless we look at that structure, we're not going to make the systemic changes that the minister thinks that we're going to make.
"We're still going to get schools that, behind their closed doors every day, will do their own thing because the legislation, a) enables them to do their own thing; but we've worked in a competitive model for so long, since Tomorrow's Schools was announced, that schools have just got into the habit of working that way and doing their own thing.
"Teaching and learning is about coming together and collaborating. We've got to look at that before we look at programmes off the shelf."
Asked if that meant she would support re-visiting the idea of "education hubs", a reform proposed by the Government's independent working group in 2018, she said: "I'd really like to actually investigate that a bit more. I'm not going to put a stake in the sand."
Up to $153 million to be spent on charter schools
Seymour has previously announced up to $153 million could be spent over the next four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and to convert 35 state schools to charter schools in 2025 and 2026 — depending on demand and suitability.
Poor financial reporting was a problem last time around but Seymour is now rejecting financial advice. (Source: 1News)
A new departmental agency would be created to establish, implement, operate and monitor the performance of charter schools.
Seymour said: "They can, with some restrictions, set their own curriculum, hours and days of operation, and governance structure. They also have greater flexibility in how they spend their funding as long as they reach the agreed performance outcomes.
"To provide certainty to sponsors, they will 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 are conditional on the school continuing to meet the terms of its contract."
Over 35 groups expressed interested in taking part, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. (Source: 1News)
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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