“But, if you start to think about the choices that parents have if they’re wealthy versus if they are disadvantaged - parents with money can move to a more expensive school zone. Parents with money can sometimes pay $25,000 to $35,000 a year per child after tax to send their children to an independent or private school.
“And in many ways, I’m an old-fashioned lefty, but I believe that we pay taxes for education so every child has the opportunity to be developed to their full academic potential. I don’t think we’re doing that right now.
“And the actual left-wing parties in the form of Labour and the Greens, they’re more wedded to the providers of the education, not the teachers, but their unions, than they are to getting the outcome for the students,” he said.
The model creates a possibility for a range of diverse educators. About 100 people or groups have sought further information about the process and these include schools focusing on Māori excellence, te reo Māori, Pacific values, Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths), neurodiversity, dyslexia, flexible hours and online access, Christian values, sports academy, and military.
In the United States, where in 2021 there were 3.7 million students enrolled in charter schools, there are also institutions dedicated to LGBTQ+ students and communities.
“We already have a large number of religious schools in the form of Catholic and other denominational state-integrated schools. They are now eligible to apply and convert and keep their religious character if it was a new start-up charter school, in theory,” Seymour said.
“But, they’re going to need to be ready to include and accept any students who apply.
“We’ve had expressions of interest already from potential school operators who would like to cater to students who are neurodiverse. That’s a major issue for parents and educators right across the board.
“I’m not familiar with the LGBTQ+ schools in the United States, but we would certainly take seriously an application because there’s a lot of challenges that students face around the development of their sexuality and it may be that there are educators who have a good idea for doing that,” Seymour said.
NZEI Te Riu Rua opposes the Education and Training Amendment Act legislation which makes provisions for charter schools.
“Our education system is already very diverse; we already have the ability to become special character schools so why waste money on charter schools when evidence overseas and here says they don’t shift the dial for children,” said Lynda Stuart, principal of May Road School.
Seymour said the likes of the Green and Labour parties are more wedded to education providers, particularly teachers’ unions.
“Because those unions take 1% of a teacher’s salary to negotiate collective employment agreements, they know that charter schools are exempt from collective employment agreements.
“It means you can get rid of bad teachers, it means you can pay more to good teachers. And that, to unions, is an existential threat.
“Charter schools, if they succeed, will mean that the amount of fees paid to union officers in Wellington is dramatically reduced. And that is the beginning, middle, and end of their opposition.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about how charter schools work and what Seymour thinks about others calling it his “vanity project”.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
