95bFM Will Charter Schools be the answer for neurodiverse and disabled students?
27 February, 2025
Interview by Athena Li-Watts, adapted by Marlo Schorr-kon
Despite Associate Education Minister, David Seymour, claiming charter schools will offer “new and innovative ways to help students struggling to succeed in school,” the University of Auckland’s Dr Jude MacArthur wonders if there is enough proof these schools will benefit neurodiverse and disabled students specifically.
Charter schools are operating in New Zealand again for the first time in seven years, with seven new schools having been established as students return for the year.
Charter schools, which had previously been operating in 2014 before being stopped by the Labour-led coalition government in 2018, operate differently than other schools; they are operated by a sponsor that has a contract with the government, having to meet certain targets around achievement and attendance.
However, charter schools have faced criticism over concerns such as schools being able to set their curriculum, choose how they use their government funding, and teachers not necessarily needing formal qualifications to be hired.
Due to what Associate Education Minister, David Seymour, says are charter schools offering “new and innovative ways to help students struggling to succeed in school,” many wonder if the education provided in charter schools will benefit students who are disabled or are neurodiverse.
Senior Lecturer in Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland, Dr Jude MacArthur, told 95bFM’s The Wire that she has concerns about the lack of data regarding disabled and neurodiverse students while learning in charter schools.
“If we are talking about students who are underachieving or neurodivergent students particularly, Minister Seymour has repeatedly referred to these groups of students as requiring the sort of support that charter schools can provide. [However] if we look at these students, we do not know what happens [regarding the] learning for those kids because the data was not collected.”
Of the seven new charter schools announced, MacArthur says there are questions about whether these schools have the adequate resourcing to deliver to those needing additional support
She wonders if the funding for charter schools would be better funnelled into state schools to better provide for these students.
“The addition of a teacher aid to every classroom is something that state schools have been asking for for a long time, and I just noted that one of the charter schools has three teacher aids and a teacher for 26 students.”
“A lot of schools would just love that kind of support.”
