Opposition to the Government's plan to trial charter schools in New Zealand is mounting.
Charter schools are part of a movement in the United States and Britain to get business and non-profit organisations to run government-funded schools free from many of the rules that govern regular state schools.
[image:4025:half:right]The schools are not allowed to charge fees, but can set teacher pay and their own school day and year.
A trial for such schools in South Auckland and central and eastern Christchurch was part of the confidence and supply agreement reached between the National and ACT parties on Monday.
Prime Minister John Key told Morning Report on Tuesday it is no surprise there are opposition groups that have a vested interest in the current system.
Mr Key believes charter schools can bring the flexibility of the private school sector to the state system.
ACT MP and Associate Education Minister John Banks says the current system is failing and he would like to see the trial begin next year.
But teachers and principals are unhappy with the plan, saying they have not been consulted, there is little proof charter schools are any better than state schools and the Government risks undermining the school system.
The School Trustees Association says the move will trial children - not schools - while the Teachers Council has called on the Government to produce evidence that charter schools will work.
The association says research shows the schools are not a good idea and will worsen competition between schools. President Lorraine Kerr says the move will bring back bulk funding of schools for salaries and operational needs - an issue bitterly contested in the late 1990s.
"I'm really worried that, once again, it's not the schools we're trialling, it's our kids and that's a worry in itself. This is bulk funding by any other name and that's a huge concern."
Government has no mandate, say unions
The Secondary Principals Association, the Principals Federation, the Post Primary Teachers Association and the Educational Institute are opposed to the Government's proposal.
NZEI president Ian Leckie says the plan means the introduction of business into the education system - and National and ACT have no mandate to introduce charter schools.
PPTA president Robin Duff says a study by Stanford University in 2009 shows that charter schools were not effective.
American author Diane Ravitch says charter schools do not produce better results than state schools. The author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System says children who fail to achieve in the American model are sent back to the public schools.
Some Maori leaders support idea
The head of a Maori trust in Auckland says charter schools would be a better option than state schools for families in poor communities.
John Tamihere, chief executive of Te Whanau o Waipareira Trust, says charter schools are inevitable if state schools refuse to change the way they work with poor children. He says low decile schools are failing children from poor families - and change is needed.
Mr Tamihere says the Waipareira Trust might be interested in running such a school. He says the trust has tried to talk to Auckland schools about lifting student achievement, but has got nowhere.
Maori language educator Tony Waho says Maori would be better off with charter schools.
"Because Maori have the ability to make the innovation that would provide for the needs of our students. What gets in the way is all of the humbug and hoo-ha of how schools are run in this country."
Mr Waho says kura kaupapa Maori are a good example of the sort of innovation that would be possible under a charter school model.
