Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise to speak in opposition to the Education (Protecting Teacher Title) Amendment Bill.Hon Member: No!ERICA STANFORD: I know! Can I first just start by saying that I would offer my congratulations to Ms Jenny Marcroft for having her bill selected. As I said earlier I've got a bill that I lodged today hoping that it will also be selected and I'd just like to say congratulations well done. I want to see the good intent in Ms Marcroft's bill not because she's a new MP like me or because she's a very nice lady—we serve together on the Environment Committee and she's a very good member of that committee and like I say I consider her a friend—but because her bill talks about the uplifting and protecting of the status of teachers and that is admirable. Our teachers in New Zealand are unsung heroes. They are thoroughly professional people who are dedicated to their vocation in supporting their students to achieve and succeed. They often go beyond the call of duty and they do that with less acclaim than they deserve. So don't get me wrong we absolutely back and celebrate teachers and we are in their corner but I'm not going to pretend that this bill is anything more than yet another thinly veiled attack on charter schools. Members of that three-headed coalition on the other side of the House have deep-seated ideological opposition to charter schools. They have it in for charter schools despite the facts—despite the fact that charter schools have lower truancy rates and less bullying; the fact that their students have phenomenal NCEA achievement when they were failing in the mainstream; the fact that charter schools have given their students confidence self-belief and a feeling of belonging. This bill would restrict the title of teacher to a person who has a tertiary qualification in teaching—never mind people who advertise themselves as driving teachers dance teachers or coding teachers or the self-defence teachers who teach my son Alex at the Bays Martial Art Academy. According to New Zealand First New Zealand has this huge problem with people misrepresenting themselves as teachers something that is news to most people probably listening to this debate. Actually this bill does misrepresent charter schools and perpetuates the myth that they are rife with teachers who are unqualified unregistered unskilled and unprofessional. That could not be further from the truth. Of its entire teaching staff Vanguard Military School—Jamie Strange: Vanguard! There it is.ERICA STANFORD: —yes I will always stand up for them—a charter school in my electorate has only two unregistered teachers: a Defence Force teacher teaching military studies and a Te Reo teacher. Kieran McAnulty: Every single time—Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard.ERICA STANFORD: And under this Labour-led Government Vanguard and other charter schools like it will be closed. These teachers will have more to worry about than what they get called because they will be looking for jobs and their students will be looking for schools. For any other teaching professionals who do keep their jobs under this coalition Government well if they don't meet the requirements of this bill they can expect to face a fine of up to $2000 for calling themselves a teacher no matter what subject matter expertise or experience they might be imparting. I cannot wait for the Minister of Education's bold education summit and the ambitious work programme that he has announced today because they just might actually generate some good ideas and policy that put kids first and make constructive contribution to our education system rather than what we've seen so far which is repealing taking away—removing national standards and closing down charter schools. All I've seen from this coalition Government is a Government that's bereft of ideas. They are writing bills to close charter schools get rid of national standards and try to solve problems that don't exist like this bill. It's a very poor bill with absolutely nothing to offer except to waste this House's time. It's a solution searching for a problem and we will not be supporting this bill.