Charter schools: A right turn for education

Within days of the 2011 General Election, the National and ACT Parties' Confidence and Supply Agreement (National Party and ACT Party, 2011) promised the trialing of charter schools in New Zealand. The policy change had been foreshadowed in the previous National-ACT Confidence and Supply Agreement (2008) where both political parties had agreed 'to increase the educational choices available to parents and pupils' (n.p., 2008). Members of the National, Act and Maori parties met regularly throughout 2010 to plan how they would address educational issues should they get the chance with a second term. The resultant Step Change report (Roy, 2010) outlined an eight-stage programme centering on data collected through National Standards testing which would then be used to incentivise and reward providers who could lift the learning outcomes for low-achieving students. Separately, the ACT party released the Free to Learn report (Roy and Douglas, 2010) which suggested 'the education system would be better if compulsory education were to operate in an open market and be opened up to more public-private partnerships' (2010, n.p.).