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YOU ARE HERE PPTA Blog > Tags > charters

The Pigeonhole

Welcome to the blog of the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA), .... A blog that's not afraid to ruffle some feathers

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Tags >> charters

The New Zealand Charter School Working Group tell us they are looking for a New Zealand model of charter schooling.

They tell us they need to do this because what charter schooling 'is' differs around the world.

The 'charter school' model does differ in the US, the UK, and Sweden, BUT in one fundamental aspect charter schools are the same - they privatise public education and privatise public tax dollars.


Charter schools - New Zealand education for sale  - - you can buy anonymously Wink it's a captive market, guaranteed income from the taxpayer and regulation free, ...  sign up here.

'I can be objective' says Isaac - and my appointment is not political

Well tie me to an anthill and smear my ears with jam!  I just couldn't maintain my zen listening to Catherine Isaac on Native Affairs. Cynic is back.

Have a listen to this paragon of virtue on Native Affairs and then tell me she's objective.


Back in December 2011 John Banks announced that Onehunga High School is a charter school.

This was a surprise to Onehunga High School, it is not a charter school and neither is Bairds Road Intermediate.

We thought John, our Associate Minister of Education, might have taken the time to research this model and find out a bit more over Christmas ... but it seems not .....


What are we to make of the two multi-millionaire politicians - the two Johns - signing an agreement whereby the state abandons any responsibility for education in poor communities and instead hands it over to various churches, charities, American multinational franchises and any fly-by-night concern that sniffs a buck to be made. Apparently, the two Johns think poor communities are disadvantaged by having to learn what everyone else learns, do the same qualifications and have trained and qualified teachers so they are giving poor kids that chance to miss out on all the the things that wee Keys and the little Bankses take as their birthright.

Amazingly, lowering standards like this is apparently going to lift achievement even though that's not what has happened in the US which invented charter schools. The studies don't show any educational benefits for the model, once you control for the tendency to manipulate the school's roll to keep out the more challenging kids.