Treaty claim over charter schools

The Herald reports:

Charter school closures will have a disproportionately detrimental effect on Māori, educators Sir Toby Curtis and Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi say in a Treaty of Waitangi claim.

Curtis said most of the 1500 students at the charter schools the Government is shutting down were Māori, many of whom had enrolled to get a fresh start in education and get their lives back on track.

Six of the 11 partnership schools (Kura Hourua) had 87 to 100 per cent Māori rolls.

“The rights of these students to make that choice and the rights of parents and whanau to choose and support what’s best for their children are being taken away from them,” Curtis said.

Tawhiwhirangi said there had been a “total lack of consultation” with the schools and their students’ whanau.

“This Government has ridden roughshod over the futures of these young people in spite of claiming that they are placing a priority on helping our most vulnerable children.

“The evidence shows that Kura Hourua have been delivering very positive results for Māori students who for decades have been falling through the gaps,” she said.

Its putting ideology over evidence. The schools are delivering positive results for those who were failing in the state system. Labour’s answer is to force them back into the state system which failed them.