Being Poor Shouldn't Mean Poor Education

Monday 31 May 2004

Deborah Coddington - Press Releases - Education

Labour must give parents - regardless of their ethnicity or wealth - greater choice in their children's education, after a Maxim Institute report identified poor families as being hit hardest by school zoning, ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington said today

"Education Minister Trevor Mallard continues to ignore parents - from low-income households - that continue to be denied real choice in their children's education, because of Labour's elitist and racially divisive zoning laws," Miss Coddington said.

"New Zealanders, who can afford to, continue to move into areas with good schools - driving up property prices in those areas - while the poor, who can't afford to move, are left to languish in failing schools, propped up by Mr Mallard.

"ACT will scrap zoning, and allow successful schools to manage and operate those which under-perform - enabling them to increase their chance of becoming a school of choice. Until then, thousands of kids will continue to be locked into a desperate cycle of failure," Miss Coddington said.

ENDS

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