500 signatures reached
To: The House of Representatives
Pause Charter-School Approvals Until Transparency & Safety Are Guaranteed
Publicly funded charter schools in New Zealand are currently being fast-tracked without sufficient transparency, accountability, or oversight, raising serious concerns for education integrity, student safety, and public trust. The House of Representatives has a responsibility to protect public education and ensure children are safe. Delaying action would be neglecting that duty.
Key issues include:
Key issues include:
- Aotearoa Infinite Academy & Crimson Education: The charter school model is being promoted by a company that profits from private tutoring while seeking public funding. A tutor previously employed under the Crimson umbrella had historical indecency convictions and later abused multiple children, highlighting risks in staff vetting and child safety. (https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/highly-sought-after-tutor-indecently-assaulted-school-students)
- Unfair treatment of existing schools: Schools such as The Liger Leadership Academy in Queenstown have been denied charter approval despite a proven commitment to student welfare and education quality.
- Kelston Boys’ attempted takeover by Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust (BEWT): The process has included incorrectly redacted documents submitted by BEWT. These documents indicate that NZ Police personnel may have been referenced or involved without clear approval from NZ Police, to support claims that the school was “violent”.
- Weak oversight and accountability: Current approval and monitoring processes do not adequately protect students, ensure staff vetting, or make governance publicly accountable. Public funding is being directed to entities with opaque management and potentially unsafe practices.
These issues demonstrate the urgent need for the House of Representatives to pause all charter-school approvals and conduct an independent review of governance, conflicts of interest, staff vetting, and public accountability before any further funding or approvals are granted.
Why is this important?
Our children deserve access to safe and integrity-driven education. Right now, companies like Crimson are pushing charter schools through with almost no oversight, while making money off private tutoring. There’s already been abuse in one of their programs - a tutor with past convictions actually harmed children - and that shows the system isn’t keeping kids safe.
At the same time, schools that are doing things right, like The Liger Leadership Academy, are being denied approvals. And Kelston Boys had its governance documents redacted in a way that makes it impossible to verify what actually happened.
It’s not just bureaucracy - it’s about who gets to shape education for every kid in NZ. If Parliament doesn’t pause and review this properly, we’re basically giving public money and control to private interests with no accountability. That’s why I’m pushing this petition: it’s about safety, fairness, and protecting public education for everyone.