September 21, 2018
Charter school advocates feeling cheated
GRAEME OSBORNE INTERVIEW CLICK HERE
An advocate for charter schools says despite all kura hourua being incorporated into the state system, they will be seriously compromised.
Applications by Waatea School in south Auckland and the proposed Turanga Tangata Rite in Gisborne to become state integrated schools have now been approved.
The other charter schools will become special character schools at the start of the new school year.
Graeme Osborne from E Tipu E Rea says the model was working well for young people at risk, especially Maori, and he has little confidence the replacement will be an improvement.
"Yes they do offer continuity of a sort but they're a serious compromise to the charter school model. Self determination has gone, bulk funding has gone. The ability to appoint staff on individual agreements outside of the collective has gone, contract settings have gone and for there to be a contract in place that lays out expectation of student success is pretty rare," he says.
Graeme Osborne says charter schools should not be described as experimental, because they are a successful alternative in the United States and Britain.
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