Tolley takes charge on charter schools

It was somewhat ironic but hardly surprising that Anne Tolley stepped in to answer questions about charter schools in Parliament today given it was Ms Tolley who recruited Ministry boss Lesley Longstone, a proponent of charter schools in the United Kingdom, and worked on policy settings prior to the 2011 election, Labour’s Education spokesperson Nanaia Mahuta says.

"Ms Tolley acknowledged in the House today that the operational activities of charter schools will be governed by 'sponsor contracts' but failed to clarify that these contracts are not available for public scrutiny under the Official Information Act.

“To say, as Hekia Parata has, that charter schools will be subject to the transparent accountabilities that she claims are important to delivering her education strategy is a nonsense.

“The real agenda is to hide all the important issues in a contract that can only be assessed by an advisory board appointed by the Minister.

"The Government is using charter schools as a Trojan horse to privatise public education, and siphon money from the public purse. The winners won’t be the kids and teachers, but private interests.

“It is hugely disappointing that the National Government refuses to recognise the harm caused in other countries by the charter school model.

"Charter Schools in both the UK and USA have produced variable results, exposed serious quality issues, led to the cherry picking of students and created greater inequity of outcome for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable group of learners.

"It appears charter schools’ three stooges - Anne Tolley, Hekia Parata and John Banks - are determined to see New Zealand lead a race to the bottom of OECD educational performance.

"That’s a shame because that’s not what parents or teachers want for their kids. The Government needs to get back on track and ditch the idea of charter schools,” Nanaia Mahuta said.