I was just looking at today’s edition of the (Auckland) Western Leader and came across a full page notice by the PPTA saying that Charter Schools are a failed idea. It says that submissions for the Education Amendment Bill (2012) close on the 24 January, timed to happen while most people are still on holiday.
The same notice is on the PPTA website, with links for making submissions.
Back in October, Anthony Robins cited evidence that shows why Charter schools are a bad idea. In the conclusion to his post, Anthony said:
Charter schools do worse more often than the do better, are bad for education in general. Our public education system is already very successful and very cost effective. If we want even better results, the solution is to strengthen public education, not to throw ourselves under the ideological bandwagon of charter schools.
As Green MP, Catherine Delahunty stated last month,
Treasury documents on the creation of charter schools are in agreement with criticism from the Ministry of Education, showing the planned schools forced upon New Zealand children by the National / ACT coalition agreement should be dumped, the Green Party said today.
“The Green Party agrees with Treasury and the Ministry of Education that New Zealand kids need registered teachers, not unqualified adults pushing private agendas,” said Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty….
“Treasury warns of ‘performance risks for nearby state schools’ in areas where charter schools are formed, which could lead to ‘significant risks for the cohorts of students’ in these areas.
The Treasury document on Charter Schools (AKA Partnership Schools) are here. Idiot/Savant posted on their significance, with a link to and quote from an RNZ article:
Treasury took the opportunity of the Friday before the holidays to dump a pile of documents – including advice showing that they think the government’s charter schools are a bad idea:
I/S quoted this from the RNZ link:
However [the documents] also show Treasury is not convinced the benefits of introducing the schools will outweigh the costs and risks.
The papers express scepticism that increasing competition between schools will improve the education system.
The documents show both the Treasury and Ministry of Education opposed the Government’s plan to allow partnership schools to hire unregistered teachers.
Treasury told the Government that teacher registration is an indication of a minimum level of quality.
Charter Schools are a failed idea, led by a failing politician.
As indicated at the PPTA link above, there is still time to make a submission. We have a high quality education system that will only be undermined by Charter Schools. There is room for improvement, but this also requires reducing the inequality gap in NZ. Charter Schools will do nothing to reduce inequalities.
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