Maxim Institute’s submission to the Education and Workforce Committee, prepared by Researcher Maryanne Spurdle, urges New Zealand to support independently operated, publicly funded charter schools. Research shows charter schools improve educational equity, provide diverse choices for families, and ease the burden on public schools. Charter schools can bridge socioeconomic gaps, enhance educational outcomes, and promote innovative, efficient practices, advocating for greater school choice and improved student achievement.

Executive Summary

Overseas, independently operated, publicly funded schools have provided both better and more varied choices to families who would otherwise have limited options. Opponents of charter schools in New Zealand have not offered an alternative to charter schools that would be any better than the status quo—essentially accepting the largest difference between the reading skills of advantaged and disadvantaged students in the English-speaking world. This also accepts that half of all students and only 23% of Māori students attend school regularly, and that more than one third of 15-year-olds struggle to read and write.

One of the most effective tools to rectify these gaps is better support for independently operated schools. OECD research shows that socio-economic stratification in schools decreases with more public funding of independently operated schools: “across OECD countries, 45% of the variation in stratification can be accounted for by the level of public funding to privately managed schools.”

Charter schools have the potential to improve equal access to the kind of education that students from any postcode should expect.