Narrow and superficial report on charter schools - NZEI

Narrow and superficial report on charter schools - NZEI
6 October

The government’s so-called evaluation of charter schools fails to address the key issue of how well students are being educated.

NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says it is extraordinary that the report comes to conclusions based on looking at just three of the five charter schools that opened in 2014.

“We know that at least one school has been so dysfunctional that the Minister had the embarrassment of having to threaten it with closure," he says.

"It is a concern that instead of educational outcomes and great teaching, the report highlights governance and management as evidence of innovation in charter schools. And extraordinarily, the report says that 'innovation' is because they do not have parental involvement.

"This is a business approach to running schools that runs counter to the evidence that children learn best when parents and whanau are involved in their education.

"It is also ironic that the charter schools say their success depends on small class sizes and small schools when the government would like to increase class sizes and close small schools in the public sector.
"It is a pity the report’s authors did not visit our innovative and successful public schools and do a real comparative study."

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