ACT leader says more charter schools could lift Pacific achievement but union disagrees

The battle over charter schools is shaping up as an election issue.

This comes as ACT leader David Seymour backs further growth of charter schools, while the teachers’ union warns they could deepen the education gap for Māori and Pasifika students.

Seymour, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, visited Sisters United NZ, an all-girls charter school for Māori and Pasifika students in Greenlane, Auckland this week.

In an interview with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Seymour said the school showed what is possible when leaders have more freedom to run a school their way.

He says the students he met were confident and proud of their school.

“I spoke to these kids and often you go to a school and the kids are sort of looking down and they don't want to talk to you. These girls are so confident. So it was very cool."

Watch the full interview with David Seymour on Pacific Mornings below.

The school operates from repurposed facilities at Alexandra Park Raceway.

Seymour says this also shows charter schools do not need to follow the same model as state schools.

“Schools can be just about anywhere if you've got the right leadership and the right attitude,” he said.

David Seymour during his visit to Sisters United NZ, a charter school in Greenlane. Photo/Facebook/David Seymour

“What is different is the sense of mission, the leadership, the culture and the attitudes that come with the school because it's a project of choice.”

Seymour points to new figures showing charter school enrolments have increased by 18 per cent since March.

There are 17 charter schools operating across New Zealand, with numbers doubling over the past year.

But Chris Abercrombie, president of the Post-Primary Teachers Association, says the growth raises questions about whether charter schools are being held to the same standard as public schools.

He says there is not enough independent oversight of their performance.

“State schools have independent assessment through NZQA, through ERO (Educational Review Office), and charter schools don't have to have any of that. And so we're basically relying on charter schools to tell us how well they're doing.”

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie says the growth of charter schools raises concerns over whether they are held to the same standards as public schools. Photo/Supplied

Abercrombie said charter schools were not the answer to problems in the public system, particularly when most Māori and Pasifika students remain in state schools.

“We know that, historically, Māori and Pasifika students have been underachieving in the state system.

"The vast majority of Māori and Pasifika students are in the state system. So if we actually wanted to improve outcomes, that's what we should be doing is fixing the state system. We don't throw it away and try something new,” he said.

Seymour says ACT wants charter schools protected and expanded after the election.

"Tell [Labour] not to mess with charter schools or better still, give your party vote for ACT so that we can protect and grow that initiative,” he said.

Abercrombie says the appeal of charter schools is clear especially when they can offer smaller classes and specialist support.

"[Charter schools] are able to do things that we want to do. We want smaller class sizes. We want specialist support.

“What we need is a system that everyone can thrive in and not just create these islands where a few students can have access,” he said.

He warns that expanding charter schools without stronger oversight could leave Aotearoa with a divided education system.

“We know it creates a two-tier system and other jurisdictions are wrestling with that. We know Sweden and their charter school system, they're trying to gain control of it because of increased inequity in the system tenfold.

“We need to strengthen [state education] to make that as best as we can and not create these islands of other systems that just fragments the system even more,” he said.

Charter schools first opened in New Zealand in 2014 under the National-led government with support from ACT. Labour abolished the model after taking office in 2017, with remaining schools closing or converting to the state system.

The National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition later restored charter schools, with new legislation passed in 2024 and the revived model in 2025.