Mahuta Nanaia: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mahuta Nanaia: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 22 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4637. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Hauraki-Waikato) 
: 
 That was John Hayes the member for Wairarapa. If there are 60000 jobs and he has his way everyone will be making socks but he will need more socks than those that are manufactured in Wairarapa to address the burgeoning unemployment problem. National has done nothing to solve unemployment. It must do more especially in the provinces and that member knows it. 
It was laughable to listen to John Banks earlier as he criticised this side of the House. Well I tell you what: I would have this front bench any day than a member who has resigned himself to a one-member party. Under the MMP review he is gone. Even if the threshold is lowered to 3 percent or 2 percent he is gone. The comments coming from that member saying that partnership schools will benefit the 20 percent of young people who are currently not achieving in the system are laughable. Parents out there are holding meetings because they are concerned at the way in which National is systematically destroying our education system and that is a concern to us. We know that charter schools will not make a difference. In fact in 2009 Stanford University did a comprehensive report of about 16 schools across the states of the USA and it showed that the outcomes in terms of education for minority and indigenous groups are variable. It does require significant private investment. Attrition has its place in terms of why some charter schools are doing better than others. The deliberate cherry-picking of some students to lift the performance value and outcome from those schools also has its place so to bring that type of a model into the New Zealand system is absolutely a disgrace. 
It will destroy what is at the heart of a high-performing New Zealand education system which is one that delivers to kids based on the expectations sent to parents. That is a very important point that I want to stress. The way that National is going it is driving a steam train right through the middle of our education system and undermining the things that really work. We need schools in New Zealand to be self-managing schools. International evidence shows that why we are presenting in the higher quartile of the OECD charts is because we have self-managing schools. Parents and communities are involved in setting the expectations of outcomes for their young people. They are involved in ensuring that the type of education is relevant to their children at a very local and personal level so that they can monitor and work with schools to deliver those outcomes. It is the truth that sadly too many young people are not achieving in our education system but charter schools are not the solution. 
 All charter schools will do is privatise the profits and socialise the loss—privatise the profits and socialise the loss. We need to be concerned if the six applicants sitting on the table right now come from private companies which have a long track record of privatising the profits and socialising the loss. Members across the House know this. They know that at the meetings held in their communities in South Auckland west Auckland and Christchurch and continuing throughout the whole country parents are concerned because what they do not want put at risk is the quality public education system where every child no matter what their circumstance has the opportunity to succeed in any school throughout this country and we back them. We back those parents because we believe every school should be a good school. 
We believe that the teachers in front of our children should be registered unlike National. Through its charter school model it is saying “Actually we don’t need registered teachers in front of our children.” In fact there is a difference between qualified teachers and registered teachers. 
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 
: There is. 
Hon NANAIA MAHUTA 
: If there is then I challenge that member the member for Tauranga to take the next call and stand up and explain to the good members of Tauranga what that difference is based on the recommendations coming out of the Government with regard to giving greater protection around children and strengthening the regulatory process so that sex offenders are not in front of our children. I challenge the member for Tauranga to get up take the next call and explain to the people of Tauranga what the difference is. We think there should be registered teachers in charter schools. We think that if that Government wants to run that particular line then it should be a uniform standard. 
But on balance actually we do not need charter schools. On balance we should be putting all our effort into strengthening the public education system. Parents are also concerned because they were told by National that parents deserve really good data about the performance of their young people. What do they get? A variable set of data coming out of national standards and being put up on a website with the Minister herself acknowledging that that data is inaccurate.