ACT leader David Seymour says schools which fail their pupils need to close.
The Epsom MP, who's the parliamentary undersecretary for education responsible for charter schools, says the closure of a kura hourua at Whangaruru is a sign the model is working.
The Principals Federation has used the closure to argue no more such schools should be created.
Mr Seymour says the people who promoted the school had a vision of teaching educationally disadvantaged students in a farm setting, but they were unable to deliver.
"But look what happened – we just closed the school. We said if this school is not good enough for the kids, it's not good enough for us. And I suspect what some people in the education establishment are truly terrified of is we might start applying that standard across the education system and say if a school is failing kids then we will close it and let someone else have a go at transforming these kids lives," he says.
Mr Seymour says the fact many children still fail in mainstream schools demolished the the Principal Federation's argument that charter schools were unnecessary because New Zealand teachers were among the best in the world.
DAVID SEYMOUR INTERVIEW
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