July 01, 2024
Charter schools step to privatisation
Greens education spokesperson Teanau Tuiono says charter schools will reduce the money available for public education.
Associate Education Minister and ACT leader David Seymour has introduced his bill to re-establish charter schools, and he’s already asking for expressions of interest.
There was $153 million allocated in the budget to establish up to 50 charter schools, including 35 state schools which will convert to the new form of bulk funding.
Mr Tuiono, a former teacher, says the policy didn’t work effectively under the previous National-ACT government and there’s no evidence it will work any better this time.
“We need to lift the game for public education right across – kura kaupapa, kura a iwi, kohanga reo as well. We need to resource what’s already there rather than create a corporate model which is about privatising education which I don’t think is a good thing,” he says.