Associate Education Minister David Seymour told First Up more potential new charter schools were in the pipeline. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The Associate Education Minister says charter schools are gaining momentum, as Northland College in Kaikohe becomes the first state school to publicly declare it wants to become a charter school.
Two state schools are in contract negotiations to become charter schools as early as next year - but their identities remain under wraps.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour told First Up more potential new charter schools were in the pipeline.
"There's a few that have got to the end of the pipeline and will almost certainly be converted. There's a bunch that are close to that and are in the process of negotiation," he said.
"I think there will probably be about half a dozen by the start of next year on that basis.
"There's around 20 that have been in touch with the Charter School Agency in the last few months so it's something that is building a lot of momentum."
The coalition government set aside $153 million for 15 new charter schools and the conversion of 35 state schools for 2025 and 2026.
The Charter School Agency said six state and six state integrated schools, including the two that had been approved, had expressed interest or applied to become charter schools.
The only publicly-identified schools were Kaikohe's Northland College, which finalised a formal expression of interest last week, and state integrated Al-Madinah, which applied this year to convert next year.
Northland College said it desperately needed to do something to lift achievement for its predominantly Māori students and had the backing of Northland iwi, Ngāpuhi.
Post Primary Teachers Association president Chris Abercrombie said it was disappointing that a state school felt the state could not support it to meet its community's needs.
He said the union, which opposed charter schools, would support its members in any consultation and would continue to support them if the school converted to charter status.
Abercrombie said it was telling that so far only one state school had admitted that it was considering converting.
To date, the government had approved 11 charter schools, all of which were new schools.
Seven opened at the start of the year with an eighth, Twin Oaks Classical School in Auckland, opening in July.
Three new schools were approved to open at the start of next year: an Auckland school with Catholic values called Tōtara Point; Te Kāpehu Whetū, an Auckland boarding school outpost of a former charter school that continued to operate in Whangarei; and the Forest School in Warkworth.
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