After a decade, parental choice is widely accepted as appropriate, and New Zealanders preferred the decentralized structure to the bureaucratic system it replaced. However, many parents, especially those with low incomes, are not in a position to exercise choice. No alternative options exist where they live or they cannot afford the transportation, student fees, and other costs associated with enrolling in a desirable school. As a result, enrollment patterns in New Zealand became increasingly stratified. Minority students primarily Maoris and Pacific Islanders became increasingly concentrated in schools serving high proportions of minority and low-income students.
Parents judge a school s quality based on the socioeconomic and racial mix of students.
As a result, schools with concentrations of poor and minority students on average became smaller, and ethnic minorities became increasingly concentrated in them. By the end of the 1990s, the New Zealand government had concluded that as many as 25 percent of all schools were unable to handle their new management responsibilities and were unable to compete effectively. The schools at the bottom were stuck in a downward spiral the more students left, the fewer resources they had, and the less attractive and effective they became. It is impossible to determine if the changes during the past decade have improved student achievement because New Zealand does not have a national testing system. The results are not encouraging.