Introducing charter schools around the country has the potential to create "ghetto schools" if the corporation-run schools cherrypick high-achieving students and leave the under-achieving students behind, a Marlborough principal says.
Havelock School principal and former New Zealand Principals Federation president Ernie Buutveld said charter schools had been known to pick the best students and tended to "differentiate between the haves and have nots". Under a deal between ACT and the National Party, community, religious or ethnic groups, or private companies, will be allowed to operate state-funded charter schools.
School boards will be able to set class hours and introduce performance-related teacher's pay.
A trial will be held in South Auckland and Christchurch East and will be the first areas to have the state-funded private schools within the next three years.
Mr Buutveld said academically successful charter schools were those which were heavily funded by the government or by the group that ran them.
"If they've had success because of that it strongly suggests state schools are underfunded which becomes a resourcing thing [rather than anything else]."
Charter schools in Britain and the United States have introduced a "very focused and extremely narrow" curriculum which, if rolled out around the country, would put the "creative and vibrant" New Zealand curriculum at risk, he said.
Whitney St School principal Alan Straker said it would make sense for charter schools to enroll the best students if their success was based on academic performance.
"I don't believe it will do anything for the underachieving students.
"There's no proof that charter schools improve learning for students and I'm really doubtful about the quality of research," he said.
Riverlands School principal Dave Parsons said the idea of charter schools came unannounced and he was concerned because the idea needed consultation with those in the education industry. "It's a shock, it's a surprise and I would treat it with caution."
He was not overly familiar with charter schools, but said the schools set up in Britain and the US had had mixed results and any school set up in New Zealand would need to fit a New Zealand context.
"We're completely different to the US and Britain – we've got different needs, culture requirements and curriculum," he said.
He did not want state schools to be disadvantaged and said it would be important that they received similar funding to charter schools.
Kaikoura MP Colin King said Marlborough should be a "close follower rather than a leader" when it came to the introduction of charter schools.
Mr King was not aware of any charter schools being proposed in Marlborough but said he needed to do more research on the benefits of charter schools.
- The Marlborough ExpressSIMON WONG
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