Government announces $153m to fund return of charter schools, Act leader David Seymour hints underperformers could be converted

Associate Education Minister David Seymour has announced $153 million in funding to bring back charter schools, saying state schools that are “not performing” could be converted to the charter model.

“There may well be state schools that are not performing that are turned into charter schools,” Seymour told reporters this morning.

Asked whether these schools would be forced to become charter schools, Seymour said: “You’re thinking about the school, I’m thinking about the community and the students around it.

“You can put your emphasis on the management of a school that is failing its community; I put my emphasis on how we get them better education.”

The funding would apply over four years to establish 50 charter schools. Fifteen schools would be new while 35 would be converted state schools. The first schools are expected to open by term one next year.

Seymour said charter schools had a level of accountability other schools didn’t - for example, they could lose their funding if they didn’t reach certain achievement outcomes.

Charter schools operated in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018. They were a long-standing Act Party policy when Act was a support party for the National Government.

However, they were abolished in 2018 by the previous Labour coalition Government. Charter schools at the time could transition into character schools, which are entirely government-funded for years 0-13 and teach the national curriculum that aligns with their “character”, such as an iwi or educational philosophy.

Seymour said today that once the new legislation passes later this year, contracts will be negotiated and signed. “Sponsors” would have fixed-term 10-year contracts to operate a charter school with two rights of renewal for 10 years each.

All fixed-term periods were conditional on the school continuing to meet the terms of its contract.

“The pilot run by the previous Government that Act was part of is informing the revised charter school model,” Seymour said.

“Notably, charter schools were subject to high levels of monitoring and accountability and could be shut down when they did not achieve the outcomes they were funded to achieve.”

Seymour said charter schools gave educators greater autonomy, created diversity in the country’s education system and raised overall educational achievement, especially for students who are underachieving or disengaged from the current system.

In early April, Seymour announced the Charter School Kura Hourua Establishment Board to guide the formation of the new charter school model.

The board would be chaired by Justine Mahon, who told reporters today the board would work with the Ministry of Education to provide the Government with details on charter schools and advice on the contracts.

“Basically, we’re looking at the mechanisms by which we hold charter schools to account.”

Meanwhile, Labour’s education spokeswoman Jan Tinetti said charter schools were “ideological” and would not increase achievement.

“Charter schools are part of the coalition Government’s drive to dismantle our public school system and promote a privatised, competitive system that puts profits before kids,” Tinetti said.

“The $153 million for charter schools would’ve more than covered the costs to provide healthy school lunches to the Years Seven and up students that David Seymour has cut.”

State schools are entirely funded by the Government and teach the national curriculum. A state-integrated school teaches is partly government-funded and teaches the national curriculum based on specific principles, such as a religion or philosophy.

Meanwhile, a charter school is government-funded and can set its own curriculum, hours and days of operation. Seymour said they have greater flexibility in how they spend their funding so long as they reach agreed performance outcomes.

Today’s announcement is the latest in a suite of new policies for the education sector, including cutting down spending on the school lunches programme and introducing a new attendance action plan that includes new daily data reporting on regional attendance rates.