Parata claims state schools send kids to jail

Hekia Parata's claim on Radio NZ's Morning Report this morning that vulnerable kids attending state schools are more likely to end up in jail is an absolute indictment on her own performance as Minister and the policies of the current National government, Labour's Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.

"Hekia Parata claimed on Morning Report this morning that the alternative to at-risk kids attending failing charter schools was jail. That is a disgraceful statement for a Minister of Education to make.

"It speaks volumes that the current Minister of Education has so little faith in our state schools she thinks the only way to cater for the most at-risk kids is to take them out of the school system and put them into an environment where they've been found to be constantly absent, where they're smoking cannabis, and where heading out surfing is a regular part of the school day.

"As the wheels spin off the charter schools experiment, Hekia Parata is desperately trying to justify their existence by claiming that they are some sort of magical solution for kids who are otherwise struggling in state schools.

"The reality is if those very state schools were given the level of funding and support these charter schools are getting, they could do amazing things for those kids.

"The charter schools experiment is failing, and it's robbing hundreds of kids of their chance at a proper education. It's time to draw a line under it and move on. That's what an incoming Labour government will do," Chris Hipkins says.

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