Will's Word: Can charter schools turn around Pacific achievement rates?

This is a transcript from Will’s Word on Wednesday, 15th of May.

If you didn’t see the news yesterday publicly funded, privately run charter schools are back.

The Government announced its pumping $153 million into setting up 50 charter schools over the next four years - 15 schools will be brand spanking new and 35 state schools will be converted.

If you don’t know what charter schools are, they're basically run by private businesses, not for profit organisations, churches, iwi, and are contracted by the state for 10 years.

And what sets them apart from public schools are they don’t have to teach the curriculum aka the norm.

Now several teachers unions have already come out slamming the announcement, arguing the money should be going into public school funding instead.

And while I agree with their sentiment to an extent this is undoubtedly a win for Pacific communities.

It means Pacific people have the opportunity to develop schools that better suit them.

It’s clear the normal curriculum is failing Maori and Pasifika people.

We’re over represented in every single indicator of inequality in New Zealand.

That includes incarceration rates, drug addiction, homelessness and poverty.

The Government’s decision to pump more money into charter schools, allows Pacific people to apply Pacific values when it comes to teaching students.

And that gives us a real shot at improving the lives of our people.