Over 1000 schools say they will back Te Tiriti, after Government removes obligation

Friday, 21 November 2025

Education Minister Erica Stanford has defended changes to remove Treaty obligations for school boards.

More than 1000 school boards have written to the Government, unhappy that it removed their legal obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

After the law was changed, so that the Education and Training Act no longer required that school boards adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, about a thousand schools signed a pact to say they would continue with their Treaty obligations.

Tania Waikato, a lawyer who has compiled Te Rārangi Rangatira - the list of schools promising they would still give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi - told Stuff that 1007 boards had pledged to do so.

This Government’s law change has put Education Minister Erica Stanford under pressure, facing heat from schools, from parents, and, unusually, even supporters of the law change.

Lobby group Hobson’s Pledge, which campaigns against indigenous rights, claimed victory when the Government changed this law - but then threw a barb at Stanford, labelling her “National’s wokest minister”.

While Waikato said Stanford was ignoring evidence from teachers and undermining Māori rights.

Math and arts experts have called the rewrite 'more political than educational,' citing flaws and too many learning objectives, despite Stanford's claim it will close the equity gap.

Different ministers, different explanations for law change

This week, Stanford walked away from reporters twice after being asked about the law change. And during one “bridge run”, when ministers typically answer questions from reporters, she refused to take questions at all.

“Look, I’ve already said all that I need to say about that. We take our responsibility with the treaty very, very seriously,” she replied on Tuesday morning, after being asked to respond to the schools that had written to her saying they didn’t support the change.

The coalition Government, over two weeks of debate about this issue, has sent mixed messages about what it all means.

Stanford, at one point, said there would be no practical impact from the law change. But Associate Education Minister David Seymour suggested there could be less Māori culture incorporated into some schools.

Associate education minister David Seymour says some schools feel like “an eternal marae visit”.

“We are not taking anything away from anybody. People can choose how they run their schools, reflecting all the cultural diversity of New Zealand, but they have to respect other people’s choices - that they may not wish for their children’s education to be like an eternal marae visit,” Seymour said, in response to an Iwi Chairs Forum against the law change.

Stanford, however, has characterised the law change as nothing but an administrative process.

She said that, ultimately, Treaty obligations were still present in the law. She said this would just simplify the process for school boards, who were volunteers and parents. She said the ministry and ministers would still need to ensure Te Tiriti was upheld.

Tania Waikato appeared at the Waitangi Tribunal to oppose the Regulatory Standards Bill.

“If you look at school boards, they are essentially donating their time to run a local school. It’s not fair on them to decipher and be delegated a Treaty duty. I hold that. I take it seriously, and I’m acting on it,” she told Stuff this week.

Schools say they’ll still adhere to Te Tiriti

Waikato started compiling Te Rārangi Rangatira as more schools published their support for keeping Te Tiriti as a requirement for school boards to operate.

She said she had been expecting the Government to try and remove Treaty considerations in education, after the passing of the Regulatory Standards Bill. She successfully argued at the Waitangi Tribunal that the Crown had breached its Treaty obligations through passing that bill into law.

“We knew this was coming.

“This is a clear part of a campaign by this Government, across all sectors - not just the education sector - to get rid of Te Tiriti,” she said.

She said the Government had given no clear justification for changing this law, and was going against expert opinion and evidence.

“As a mother, I’m sick of what this Government is doing to our education system. For me, this is about whether or not my son gets to be educated in a system that doesn’t treat his reo like it’s something that’s not important, and doesn’t treat his identity like it’s something that’s not important,” she said.

She said she had been inundated by teachers, students and boards of trustees writing to her to be included as a school that would still adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.