The return of charter or ”partnership” schools has been dubbed a step backwards by Northland education unions and leaders.

However, Act leader David Seymour believes they provide a real choice in education and gives more young people a chance to succeed.

Seymour has indicated charter schools will return by 2025, after they were scrapped under Labour’s Education Amendment Bill five years ago.

Charter schools are funded by the Government but set their own school hours, holidays, pay rates and curriculum. They are not subject to the Official Information Act.

New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) president Leanne Otene said in a message to principals this month that reintroducing charter schools may increase education inequities.

“If we examine the most successful education systems globally, we find that those providing the least choice in types of schooling, are more equitable, more successful and of higher quality than those with many options.”

New Zealand Principals’ Federation president Leanne Otene is concerned about the return of charter or "partnership" schools. Photo / Michael Cunningham

“Increasing the number of private schools (partnership schools are publicly funded, privately controlled, and run as a business model) does not increase the quality of education.”

Otene noted a similar model used in the United Kingdom had caused an increase in inequities. “The biggest problem to resolve in New Zealand’s education system is inequity,” she said.

Seymour continued to be a cheerleader for charter schools, stating they allow “greater flexibility” over how they operate and use their funding, in exchange for accountability over outcomes.

This flexibility could include introducing different staff pay and conditions, offering free uniforms or other learning resources, and more-extensive school transport arrangements, he said.

“If existing public schools wish to convert, they would be subject to criteria to ensure communities are not worse off by the switch.”

Seymour said this would include taking on all existing students or considering alternative options if children chose not to attend, and providing a secular education if the school had previously done so.

Charter schools have a tumultuous history in Northland. In 2016, the Government closed Te Pumanawa o te Wairua in Whangaruru — one of its flagship charter schools — despite having invested $5.2 million in contract funding.

The charter school Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru was closed after a damning ERO report. Photo / Nick Reed

The school was plagued with governance, management, roll and other issues ever since it opened in 2014.

A specialist audit by the Education Review Office found student achievement and quality teaching were poor. There was a lack of basic literacy and numeracy and inadequate curriculum leadership.

Seymour acknowledged not all partnership schools were a success but, unlike public schools, they were subject to “high levels of monitoring and accountability” and were shut down when they didn’t achieve set outcomes.

“Most partnership schools exceeded their contracted expectations,” he said.

Despite the failings of Te Pumanawa o te Wairua, other charter schools in Northland flourished under the model, such as Te Kāpehu Whetū in Whangārei.

The school, which was focused on Māori education, ranked in the top two in Northland for University Entrance in 2018 and was described as “outperforming” most other private and public schools.

Te Kāpehu Whetū principal Raewyn Tipene says the kura may return to a charter model. Photo / Michael Cunningham

However, Te Kāpehu Whetū transitioned to a state model when the Education Amendment Bill was brought in to avoid closure.

At the time, He Puna Marama Trust chief executive Raewyn Tipene, who is now principal, said they had no choice in the matter.

“It was designated charter school or close, and for our families and for all the people who have put so much work in the last decade, there was no choice for us,’’ she said.

Tipene told Waatea News on December 6 that she would consider moving back to charter to get out from under the Ministry of Education red tape.

Despite some success under the charter model, the Post Primary Teacher’s Association described them as a “failed experiment”.

PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president Chris Abercrombie said the vast majority of students in Aotearoa are in the public system and that is where investment should be made.

”The focus of the Government needs to be on ensuring we have a robust and equitable public education system. Our kura are at the very heart of our communities, and we must ensure that we build and develop the amazing work and ongoing possibility that exists within this system,” Abercrombie said.

The PPTA has been stubborn in its boycott of charter schools in the past, such as blacklisting teachers from teaching at state schools who had worked at charter schools.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter called Act’s plan to privatise the public education system “radical” and one that would not serve tamariki or whānau.

“All we want is for politicians to address the critical needs we have in this country around poverty and inequity, and leave teaching and learning to the experts.”

Brodie Stone is the education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.