Greater accountability needed for NZ's charter school

Greater accountability needed for NZ's charter school

“This past week has been a poor one for so-called Partnership Schools, New Zealand’s version of charter schools. It is now clear that the authorisation process does not meet the standards expected of open and transparent government, according to the Chairperson of QPEC, Bill Courtney.

Revelations of what has been happening behind the scenes have turned this initiative into a farce. But it’s not funny. $19m of public funding is earmarked to fund these schools.

The essence of charter schools is that they are publicly funded, privately operated and run under different rules than regular state schools.

John Banks has said that the charter school initiative is one of the “… most exciting initiatives we have to contribute to solving our most urgent educational problem; the long tail of underachievement”.

He has also claimed that NZ’s version of charter schools will be subject to greater accountability than state schools.

Recent revelations of how poorly the application and authorisation processes have been carried out give QPEC little hope that these extravagant claims will be realised.

Leading off was the decision by the Ombudsman to overrule the Ministry of Education and insist on the release of the names of those who submitted an “indication of interest” to run a charter school. In a victory for greater transparency around the spending of public funds, Ombudsman Professor Ron Paterson’s decision is profound:

“There is a strong public interest in the disclosure of information during the process of establishing such schools.

The partnership schools policy involves substantial public funds and significant changes to the way in which publicly funded education provision is controlled, managed and delivered. I consider that a more informed public discourse about the creation of such schools is in the public interest.”

So, the Ministry of Education finally agreed and released the list on its website on Wednesday. At least 15 Māori and iwi groups, along with Pasifika organisations, expressed an “indication of interest” in late 2012 / early 2013. But from what we hear from the scuttlebutt, only one has made the short-list of preferred operators.

Snippets published in the media suggest that at least seven serious applications were short-listed, including meetings and presentations in Wellington. Of these, reporters believe that three applicants have already been turned down, including the Destiny Church. Bishop Brian Tamaki went on record as a saying that he believed “discrimination occurred.”

In the United States, many charter school authorising bodies hold application and renewal hearings in public. Community groups and nearby schools are often given the opportunity to make representations into the process, so that authorisers are aware of the public concern around these schools and the impact they may have.

So John Banks’s claim that the authorisation process here in New Zealand should represent “best procurement practice and best evidence from overseas models” is somewhat fanciful.

QPEC notes that the Authorisation Board’s Terms of Reference requires it to “contribute to the mana and success of Partnership Schools by ensuring that all applicants get a fair hearing”. So regardless of what we may each think of the Destiny Church, we hope they got a fair hearing and were not thrown out, merely for being a “political hot potato”.

Turning now to the final short list of four, we find a decidedly mixed bag:

• Advanced Training Centres Ltd, is a military prep school for 16 and 17 year olds run by a family for-profit company. It turned itself into a Private Training Establishment, focusing on training for the “Services Military and Recruitment Training” course. John Banks’s son is said to have attended its North Shore school;

• C-Me Mentoring Foundation Trust, is a trades mentoring programme from South Auckland providing pre-apprenticeship training in Auckland secondary schools (but is not itself a school at present). Its CEO, John Kotoisuva, is a former Destiny Party Te Atatu candidate. His on-line profile states that “John Kotoisuva is standing against gay cabinet minister Chris Carter”;

• Villa Education Trust has applied to open three new schools, in West Auckland, South Auckland and Whanganui. Villa currently runs the Christian philosophy focused Mt Hobson Middle School. Based in Remuera, it is designed for a maximum roll of 58 year 7 to 10 students;

• And the Rise Up Trust, a genuine grass-roots Pasifika initiative, where Advisory Group member, Moka Ngaro, is the wife of National MP Alfred Ngaro.

Has the Authorisation Board paid enough attention to another of the Principles laid out in its Terms of Reference: “Select applicants with the ability to widen choices and raise achievement for learners, particularly in line with Government priorities.”?

At first glance, Rise Up Trust may be the only candidate that will get anywhere near this policy objective.

This rag-tag list of providers goes nowhere near meeting the goal of a shining new type of school that will seek to overcome inequality for Māori and Pasifika.

And what of the Māori Party’s controversial support for the charter school concept? Has Pem Bird’s and Toby Curtis’s dramatic performance at select committee in February come to nothing?

The policy of so-called Partnership Schools is a disgrace, founded on ideological nonsense and carried out away from the light of public scrutiny.

Greater accountability has been the catchcry of John Banks and Catherine Isaac. So let’s see it in practice, starting with an open and public selection process.”

ENDS

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