Don't let the government use your school as a propaganda outpost

Emily Writes

12 Nov 2025 — 12 min read

The government's latest attack on Māori is one we need to fight – even if it seems innocuous. Obligations for school boards to consider te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) have been removed. This isn't the usual dog whistle; it's part of an all-out assault on te Tiriti that reverses decades of progress for all students.

As detailed by Dominic O'Sullivan at The Conversation, the Education and Training Act 2020 required school boards of trustees to “give effect” to te Tiriti o Waitangi. Education Minister Erica Stanford has pandered to racists by saying it's "too onerous an obligation." Translation? Māori students and tangata tiriti students are just not worth the effort.

Nobody but a racist would think that considering tikanga and Māori students when making decisions for a school is "onerous."

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Let's be real here: The Government is using our schools, our communities, as propaganda outposts. They're telling us we must not care for each other in ways that matter in an effort to appease the worst people in this country.

David Seymour has raged about karakia and te reo and tried to get the Treaty of Waitangi clause stripped out of the education act. Erica Stanford has ripped the Aotearoa Histories programme from the curriculum, denying students the right to learn about their own country's history.

They're trying to privatise education at an enormous cost to children in mainstream schooling. These charter schools have cost roughly $46,500 per student when in a state school it's just above $9000.

As well as trying to remove every bit of Te Reo from school books, they're trying to scrap art history and outdoor education.

They're doing ALL of this without any evidence base - it's purely ideological. They see no value in Te Reo Māori or Te Ao Māori, they see no value in art, and they see no value in children.

They're using our kids to appease their party donors.

Well, a lot of people are saying, "Not on my watch."

One of them is the wonderful Tania Waikato (Insta | Facebook). She has a fantastic Facebook group that you can join here.

Tania has created a list of schools that will continue to work to ensure that their plans, policies, and local curriculum reflect local tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te ao Māori. You can see an updated version of that list at the bottom of this email.

See the list of schools

And you can copy, paste and edit the letter below, prepared by Tania Waikato, and send it to your school board.

[insert date]

[insert address]

Subject: COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE TO GIVE EFFECT TO TE TIRITI O WAITANGI

Tēnā koe Board members,

I am writing to you as a concerned [parent / teacher / alumni / community member / student] of [insert school name] about the Government’s recent decision to remove the part of section 127 of the Education and Training Act 2020 that required you to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as part of your primary objectives.

I respectfully ask that you join many other schools around the country who have already decided they will continue to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in your decision-making and governance of our school.

Te Tiriti is more than a section in a statute. Te Tiriti is the foundational blueprint for how we can all live together in Aotearoa in unity and with aroha for one another.

When our school upholds Te Tiriti, our tamariki learn about partnership and respect for different cultures, our history and for te reo Māori.

All of these values provide a strong educational foundation for building happy and healthy tamariki and rangatahi.

Keeping Te Tiriti at the heart of our school also means:

Māori students feel seen, supported, and proud of who they are.
All students get a deeper understanding of our shared history and culture.
We strengthen relationships with local iwi, hapū, and Māori whānau.
All children will learn and feel that they truly belong in this country.

For these reasons, I am asking that our board formally confirm this commitment to give effect to Te Tiriti, so that everyone knows our school will continue to honour Te Tiriti in the way we teach, make decisions, and connect with all our school whānau.

Thank you for the time and care you put into leading our school.

Ngā mihi nui, [Your name]

[Your contact details]

[Child’s name/class – optional]

We must fight the racism and cruelty of this government. Their endless attacks on Māori cannot stand. And we must bring back the idea that it's shameful to be racist! Any school that changes its commitment to achieving equitable outcomes for Māori students is racist. That's it. It's genuinely, incredibly racist to remove your commitment to Māori students in Aotearoa. It's wild that in 2025 we have to say this.

The president of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, Leanne Otene, has pointed out that “without a clear obligation, schools will be pressured by extremists to delete Māori from the curriculum […] Without accountability, everything changes…”.

Is that what we want? Let's ensure our schools and communities know racism will not thrive where we stand.

Let's fight for our kids. They cannot be used as pawns by this government in their racist and cruel campaigns.

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