National still splashing cash on charter school experiment

New figures confirming that charter schools are still being funded at up to four times the rate of their state school counterparts shows just how desperate the National Government is to make its experiment a success, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.

“It’s quite amazing that National continues to pour taxpayer dollars into charter schools, despite their mixed results, even when they’re failing to meet their cornerstone pledge to get the government books back into the black.

“There is absolutely no doubt that state schools could do some pretty amazing things for disadvantaged kids if they were given this level of funding.

“Yet when an evaluation of charter schools is carried out later this year, the Government has specifically excluded a comparison with state schools.

“The level of secrecy around charter schools and their operations is also making a mockery of National’s claims that each one will be held to account for the enormous per-student funding they’re getting from the taxpayer.

“It’s time for the Government to front up and explain why they think a handful of charter schools should be drowned in taxpayer cash while state schools continue to rely on parental donations to fund some of their most basic expenses,” Chris Hipkins says.

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