‘The Education budget announced this afternoon is a mixed bag peppered with a lot of contradictions,’ said Paul Drummond, Immediate Past President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).

The ACT party’s proposed charter schools will open the door to religious groups to teach Kiwi kids discriminatory practices, including that same sex marriage is wrong.

‘Just as New Zealanders are celebrating the latest legislation change that brings an end to discrimination against same-sex couples having the right to be legally married, we are opening up a whole new opportunity for discriminatory practices to flourish,’ says President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, Philip Harding.

The announcement that amendments to the Education Act have been recommended by the select committee which would allow corporatised charter schools to be established in New Zealand signals a sad day for New Zealand’s world class education system.

‘No one with experience and knowledge in our education system is calling for charter schools,’ says Philip Harding, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.