Erica Stanford sneaks race-based policy back into schools
Just when you thought National put an end to race-based policies and co-governance in public services, Erica Stanford’s new Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) makes you wonder if National has completely lost sight of those promises. It reads more like something from the Labour government than the party Kiwis voted in to restore some common sense.
The bill would require school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by:
Achieving equitable outcomes for Māori students
Ensuring that school policies and teaching reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori
Taking all reasonable steps to make teaching available in tikanga Māori and te reo Māori
This is just more race-based lawmaking that create
s special treatment instead of equal treatment. It forces schools to reshape everything through one cultural lens, regardless of whether it fits the needs or values of their communities.
Māori students deserve the best possible education, like every other child in this country. This bill doesn’t improve literacy, numeracy or classroom outcomes for all learners. It focuses on identity and ideology rather than real results. Since when did schools become vehicles for political and cultural indoctrination?
If Labour had introduced this exact wording, National would be calling it radical. Yet here we are, watching a National minister pushing it through Parliament. No wonder Hobson’s Pledge called Erica Stanford the wokest member of the National Party. They were right.
It’s especially troubling when you remember the coalition agreements National signed with ACT and New Zealand First. Both parties made it clear they wanted an end to race-based public services. That means dropping co-governance and stopping legislation that divides people along ethnic lines. So why is this bill being pushed through without any serious challenge?
The clause about achieving “equitable outcomes” for Māori students is particularly vague and problematic. Who decides what is equitable? And what happens when those outcomes aren't met? Will schools be punished or labelled as culturally unsafe? It puts political pressure on schools to prioritise race over performance.
What about the everyday Kiwi parents who just want their kids to learn to read, write, and do basic maths properly? Are they now going to see classroom time being diverted into meeting cultural targets instead of lifting academic standards?
Erica Stanford is supposed to be the Minister of Education. Her job is to fix the broken parts of our education system, not make it more complex and more divided. She needs to listen to the public, not pander to the loudest ideological voices.
This bill is not what voters signed up for. It’s out of step with the country and out of touch with reality
UPDATE: Erica Stanford appeared on the Mike Hosking Breakfast Show this morning and refutes claims she's entrenching co-governance in schools. You can listen to her here - https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/erica-stanford-education-minister-on-section-127-in-the-education-and-training-amendment-bill-no2/
"All this Hobson’s Pledge stuff is a bunch of people yelling at the sky and frothing at the mouth with hatred" - Erica Stanford
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I agree with you - but education and schools have been vehicles for political and cultural indoctrination for a long time - that is why education fails children and young people. And the rest of us!
This government seems to have completely forgotten their pre-election promises to stop race based legislation. Our kids are failing in literacy and numeracy achievement, yet they push the one-lens cultural indoctrination as if it’s the answer to the world’s issues.
This absolutely infuriates me- so much so I put in a submission against Erica Stanford’s policy. But given the government’s reluctance to make any sort of real change, I expect it will fall on deaf ears. Some days I despair of the direction this country is heading towards.