Charter schools: providing ‘choice and opportunity’ or more trouble than they’re worth?

Sunday, 10 December 2023

Former pupils of partnership schools say the unique schooling environment turned their academic fortunes around. But not everyone is thrilled for their return. Gianina Schwanecke reports.

Oscar McKenzie-Linnell can’t imagine what his life would look like now had he not transferred from a public school to Vanguard Military School.

McKenzie-Linnell (Te Roroa) started at the former charter school in 2018, the year before it was changed to a designated character school.

Back then he was a distractable 15-year-old, struggling to make the transfer from a private Catholic intermediate school to Whangaparāoa College, with its almost 1500-strong roll.

“My academics were pretty shocking,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have finished school if I didn’t go to Vanguard. I probably would have dropped out.”

Now 21, McKenzie-Linnell describes the school as having been a “big turning point” in his life.

Vanguard was one of New Zealand’s first charter or partnership schools. It was founded in 2013 by Advance Training, a private training establishment.

Such schools ‒ also known as kura hourua ‒ were first introduced in Aotearoa under a previous ACT coalition deal with National in 2011.

A Cabinet paper presented by then Associate Education Minister John Banks (an ACT MP) proposed a pilot modelled off international charter schools in the US and the UK, as a “targeted response to educational underachievement in disadvantaged areas”.

The state-funded private schools were run independently of the government by non-profits or businesses and catered primarily to “priority learners” - those who had historically struggled more. This included many Māori and Pasifika students, and those with additional learning needs like neurodiversity.

Between 2013 and 2018, the Ministry of Education estimates $89.3 million was allocated to sponsors, like Advance Training, to establish and operate the partnership schools. This process was overseen by the Partnerships Schools Authorisation Board.

As they operated outside the public education system, the schools had greater freedoms around the ability to set their own curriculum and utilise the funding as they saw fit.

They could also emphasise particular characteristics within the schools ‒ be that a religious or military-style approach, or emphasis on language or neurodiverse learners.

Most partnership schools were based in Auckland or Northland, where there was a greater concentration of high risk students, and at its peak the country had about 23.

However, concerns arose about a lack of accountability and financial mismanagement at some schools, and a lack of student achievement at others.

Some schools, like Te Pūmanawa o te Wairua in Whangaruru, Northland, were later closed after the ministry terminated its contract with the school’s board over concerns about student achievement.

An audit of the school raised questions about its achievement data after 46 students were entered for NCEA yet only one school leaver had gained a formal qualification at the school.

In the two years it operated, the government invested $4.8m into the school.

In 2018, the Labour Government under then-Education Minister Chris Hipkins abolished charter schools. The 12 still open at that time would move to become state-integrated or special character schools, like Vanguard.

Of that decision Hipkins tells the Sunday Star-Times kids were being “turfed out of the public school system because they didn’t fit, or were too difficult”.

“That’s not good enough. Our public education system should serve every child.”

Hipkins says there was little evidence that charter schools had improved young people's results.

His goal was to instead make sure “every child got every opportunity within the public school system”.

Now, National’s coalition agreement with ACT (who are governing with NZ First) again promises the introduction of the short-lived model.

Auckland university education professor Peter O’Connor described charter schools, and the privatisation of education generally, as a “darling of right wing politics” the world over.

“The idea was it provided choice and opportunity for parents.”

He says it was driven by the neoliberal ideological belief that education was in crisis and a market-driven alternative was the solution.

However, O’Connor says international studies showed charter schools made “little to no difference” and there had never really been analysis to show they had higher levels of academic success compared to mainstream schools.

Of the 23 schools which opened in New Zealand, none were particularly bad, or particularly good, he says. “They were quite ordinary.”

O’Connor worried it would create “sinkhole schools”, in which local public schools down the road from charter schools would see their most motivated students and families leave for the more resource-rich charter school model.

With these taxpayer-funded schools funded “at a rate that far exceeded the rate of normal local schools”, he questioned why schools in the public system weren’t afforded the same flexibility.

“It creates a really uneven patch of schooling,” he says.

Education consultant Alwyn Poole was involved in the founding of two Auckland charter schools, South Auckland Middle School (SAMS) in Manurewa and West Auckland Middle School (WAMS) in Henderson.

Poole had left his job at Auckland's prestigious St Cuthbert's College to start Mt Hobson Middle School in Remuera, under the Villa Education Trust. The two charter schools were modelled off of this, with an emphasis on small class sizes of up to 15 students, mornings with an academic focus and activity-based afternoons.

“What the partnership school model is, it’s a response to say a lot of the ministry schools aren’t good enough,” says Poole.

The schools continue today as designated character schools, SAMS has a roll of about 174 catering to years 7 to 10, while WAMS has 156 across years 7 to 10. The most recent Education Review Office reports found both schools were “well placed to support students’ learning and wellbeing”.

Poole hits back at criticisms that partnership schools eroded existing public schools and says they needn’t be handled in a vacuum.

“The quality of the school shouldn’t be dependent on the students that are there. It’s not the students’ job to make it a good school.”

He says partnership schools were cheaper to set up compared to public schools as they were on leased sites and with smaller class sizes they were able to better meet the needs of struggling students, including the country’s 1 in 5 neurodiverse learners.

They were also more affordable for families. Those who applied to Poole’s schools paid no fees, with both uniforms and stationery provided for them.

Melanie Taraare’s daughter, Jeanna, was a foundation student at SAMS having started when it opened nine years ago. Three of her five children attended the school.

When she first heard about the school she thought it was different and “seemed really innovative”.

With a roll of about 120, and classes with just 13 students, there was more “one on one” time for Jeanna who has dsylexia.

“It was ideal for her to come here because of the class sizes. And she thrived, she absolutely thrived.”

Her youngest son graduated from SAMS last year, and is now at Manurewa High School where he was “doing really well”, having been appointed to leadership roles and achieving academically.

She had worried about the transition to a school with more than 2000 students.

“He went into [SAMS] quite shy and not confident at all, but he came out the other side a leader.”

Taraare enjoyed the strong sense of community fostered in the school so much, she returned as a teacher aide two years ago.

She thought charter schools and special character schools were “amazing”, though she admits she didn’t notice much change when it transitioned to special character.

“It gives parents another option of where they want their children to go.”

McKenzie-Linnell also found success within the model, saying he went from “scraping by” to finishing Level 3 NCEA with an excellence endorsement.

“Within the first term my grades had done a complete 180.”

McKenzie-Linnell credits the smaller class sizes and closer relationships with having made a difference, along with the school’s shorter classes of 45 minutes (compared to one hour) and lack of devices which had proved a distraction previously (the incoming government has also pledged to ban phones from the classroom).

He also references the sense of community. McKenzie-Linnell was on his way back from the school’s graduation ceremony for the year, having been invited back.

Based on his experience, he was pleased to hear charter schools were returning, though he also found moving to special character hadn’t involved a lot of change.

What does the sector make of a possible return? Teacher unions and other representative bodies have expressed concern.They fear they will undermine existing schools, along with collective agreements for members.

Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua acting president Chris Abercrombie labels charter schools an “expensive distraction” from more important issues facing the sector.

In 2018, when charter schools were disestablished, there were 808,439 students enrolled in the public system and around 1500 enrolled in charter schools.

“The vast majority of students in Aotearoa are in the public education system and this is where investment should be made,” he says.

“The focus of the government needs to be on ensuring we have a robust and equitable public education system.'

The NZEI Te Riu Roa union is also concerned about the return of charter schools, describing it as the privatisation of the public education system with “failed ideas”.

President Mark Potter says: “What we do not need is charter schools, bulk funding, more private school funding, mandated curricula or a return to standardised testing.”

Rather than restoring old polices, what was needed was lower teacher:child ratios, quality teachers who were paid “properly” and more teacher aides and specialist support, he says.

O’Connor agrees bringing back charter schools was low on the list of priorities for the government in addressing education issues.

“There’s so much else that needs to be done.”

He thought it was a contradictory approach to reintroduce charter schools ‒ ‘free’ from the constraints of the public schooling system ‒ at the same time National is looking to introduce strict rules, such as banning cellphones.

While Poole thought partnership schools should be managed from outside the Ministry of Education, he acknowledges they had not been immune from accountability reporting which required them to submit quarterly reports to the Education Minister.

He is unsure what they would look like under the new government.

Despite such concerns, ACT leader and Associate Education Minister David Seymour is intent on pushing ahead.

He says partnership schools enjoyed greater flexibility over how they operated and used funding, “in exchange for accountability over outcomes”.

For example, the schools were able to introduce different staff pay and conditions, and offer greater transport arrangements or even free uniforms.

Restoring partnership schools didn’t take away from other schools. For Seymour it was about providing choice.

“Parents don’t get real choice when all the schools they can access are basically offering the same product. The Ministry of Education sets nationwide guidance, so when it gets something wrong, it gets it wrong on a nationwide scale.

“The only way to end the risks of a single-point-of-failure education system is to give parents, teachers, and schools more choice.”

He acknowledges not all schools had been a success, but says unlike public schools, those that struggled were subject to “high levels of monitoring and accountability” and were shut down when they did not achieve the outcomes they were funded to achieve.

Seymour had visited all former partnership schools prior to the election and had received a “positive response”. He thought many would be willing to return to the initiative.

It will be at least a year before the return of partnership schools though, with the process of putting in place the necessary legislation, and seeking and choosing the applicants.

“So potentially Term 1, 2025.”