No charters please, says PPTA to tertiary sector

No charters please, says PPTA to tertiary sector

Secondary teachers are urging tertiary institutions not to go down the charter school path. Recent changes to the Education Act allow public tertiary education institutions to run charter schools.

PPTA president Jack Boyle says, “We want our tertiary colleagues to know the dangers charter schools pose to the public provision of quality education, and the damage they cause to communities.”

“Charter schools directly compete with public schools for scarce educational resources.”

“There is no evidence they work for New Zealand children, they open the door to privatisation and they are not transparent or accountable to the New Zealand public.”

“International research shows that charter schools lead to increased inequality and greater segregation between schools, both along racial and socio-economic lines. One of the most important educational challenges we face in New Zealand is increasing equity of achievement for Māori, Pasifika and low socio-economic background students, so we should be very cautious about policies which create greater divisions between these groups.”

PPTA welcomes the many good examples of partnerships between tertiary institutions and secondary schools, some of which are emerging through the Investing in Educational Success initiative. “We want to encourage tertiary and secondary to work together better, and not to compete with each other,” says Boyle.

ENDS

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