Don't let the government use your school as a propaganda outpost
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."
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.
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.
Schools that will continue to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi despite the Government's best efforts to recolonise:
- Abbotsford School
- Adventure School
- Ahipara School
- Albany Junior High
- Albany Senior High School
- Allandale Primary School
- Amberley Community pre and Prep School
- Amuri Area School
- Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery School
- Apanui School
- Aparima College
- Arakura Primary School
- Arataki School
- Arowhenua Māori School
- Auckland Point School Nelson
- Aurora College – Te Mūranga ā Rangi
- Avondale Primary School
- Avondale Intermediate School
- Avonside Girls High
- Awanui Primary School
- Bairds Mainfreight Primary School
- Bankwood School - Te Kura Tuatahi o Kukutaruhe
- Bayswater School
- Bayview Primary
- Beachaven Primary School
- Birchville School
- Birchwood School
- Birdwood School
- Birkdale Primary School
- Birkenhead School
- Bledisloe School
- Bluff School
- Bridge Pā School
- Broadgreen Intermediate
- Brooklyn Primary school
- Brunswick Enviroschool
- Canons Creek School
- Cargill School
- Carisbrook School
- Carlton School
- Chanel College, Masterton
- Chelsea Primary School
- Clifton Terrace Model School
- Clive School
- Cloverlea School
- Corinna School
- Dargaville Intermediate
- Dargaville Primary School
- David Henry School
- Diocesan School for Girls
- Discovery School
- Dominion Road School - He Maunga Teitei
- Don Buck School
- Douglas Park School
- Dunedin North Intermediate
- Dyer Street School
- Ebbett Park Primary School
- Edendale Primary School
- Edgecumbe School
- Enner Glyn School
- Fairhaven School
- Feilding School
- Fernridge School
- Flanshaw Road School
- Flaxmere College
- Forest Lake School
- Foxton Primary School
- Frankton School
- Fraser Crescent School
- Fraser High School
- Frasertown School
- Freeman's Bay School
- Fruitvale School
- Garin College
- Gisborne Intermediate School
- George Street Normal School
- Glamorgan School
- Glen Taylor School
- Glenbrook School, Tamaki
- Glenfield Intermediate
- Glenfield Primary School
- Glenholme Primary School
- Glenview School
- Gracefield School
- Grantlea Downs School
- Greenpark School
- Grey Lynn School
- Greymouth High School
- Hadlow School
- Halfway Bush School
- Hamilton East Primary School
- Hamner Springs School
- Hampden Street School
- Hastings Central School
- Hastings Intermediate School
- Hato Opani - St Albans
- Hato Petera
- Hauraki Plains College
- Hāwera Primary School
- Havelock North Highschool
- Henderson Valley School
- Henry Hill School
- Heretaunga Intermediate
- Hikutaia School
- Hillcrest High School
- Hillpark Primary School
- Homai Primary School
- Hoon Hay Te Kura Kōaka
- Horohoro School
- Horowhenua College
- Huirangi School
- Hukanui School
- Huntly College
- Hunua School
- Hutt International Boys' School
- Hutt Valley High School
- Ilminster Intermediate
- Inglewood Primary School
- Kaeo School
- Kahurangi School
- Kahutara School
- Kaiapoi North School
- Kaikoura High School
- Kaingaroa Primary School
- Kaingaroa School
- Kaingaroa School, Chatham Islands
- Kaipara Flats School
- Kaitao Intermediate
- Kaitoke School Aotea - Great Barrier Island
- Kapakapanui School
- Kapiti College
- Kapiti Primary School
- Kaponga Primary, South Taranaki
- Karitāne School
- Karamu High School
- Karori Normal School
- Katikati College
- Kauri Park School
- Kaurihohore School
- Kawakawa Primary School
- Kawerau South School
- Kelvin road primary school
- Kererū Park Campus School
- Kerikeri High School
- Kia Aroha Campus
- Kilbirnie School
- Kimihia Primary School
- Kohukohu School
- Korokoro Primary School
- Koromatua School
- Koraunui School
- Kuranui College, Greytown
- Kutarere School
- Kōnini Primary School
- Lakeview School
- Leamington School
- Lemonwood Grove School
- Levin East School
- Lincoln Heights Primary
- Linton Camp Primary School
- Mairangi Bay Primary School
- Maketu Primary School
- Makoura College
- Manaia View School (Whangarei)
- Manawatu College
- Mangakino School
- Mangapikopiko School
- Mangonui Primary School
- Manuka Primary School
- Manurewa Intermediate School
- Manurewa South School
- Maraeroa School
- Marewa Primary School
- Marton Junction School
- Masterton Primary School
- Matarau School
- Matata Public School
- Matauri Bay Primary
- Matipo Primary
- Maungaraki School
- Maunu School
- May Road School
- Mayfair School
- Meraki Montessori Primary
- Milson School
- Miramar Central School
- Miramar North School
- Morningside Primary School
- Motueka Highschool
- Mt Albert Primary School
- Mt Cook School Wellington
- Mt Roskill Grammar
- Mt Roskill Intermediate
- Mt Roskill Primary
- Muritai School
- Murupara Area School
- Musselburgh primary school Dunedin
- Naenae College
- Naenae Primary School
- Napier Girls High School
- Napier Intermediate
- Nayland College
- Nelson Central School
- Nelson College
- Nelson College for Girls
- Nelson Intermediate
- Nelson Park School
- New River Primary
- Newtown School
- Ngatea Primary School
- Ngutunui School
- Ngā Taiatea Wharekura
- Ngākōroa School
- North East Valley Normal School
- North Street School
- Northern Health School
- Nukuhou North School
- Oaklynn Specialist School
- Ōhaupō school
- Ōhope Beach School
- Ōpōtiki College
- Ōtaki Primary School
- Ōtamarākau School
- Ōturu School
- Ōwhiro Bay School
- Okaihau College
- Omokoroa Point School
- One Tree Point School
- Onehunga High School
- Onehunga Primary School
- Onewhero Area School
- Opotiki Rangatahi Pā
- Opoutere School
- Opunake High School
- Orakei Primary School
- Orewa College
- Oruaiti Primary School
- Otahuhu Primary School
- Otaki College
- Otautahi Rudolf Steiner School
- Otorohanga College
- Otumoetai Primary school
- Our Lady of Lourdes
- Owhata Primary School
- Pacific Advance Secondary School
- Paekākāriki School
- Pahiatua School
- Panama Road School
- Papakura High School
- Papakura Intermediate
- Papakura Normal School
- Papanui High School
- Papanui Primary School
- Papatewhai Ashbrook School
- Papatoetoe Intermediate School
- Paraparaumu Beach School
- Paraparaumu College
- Paraparaumu School
- Paremata School
- Parklands School
- Parkvale School
- Pasadena Intermediate
- Paterangi school
- Petone Central School
- Pirinoa School
- Point Chevalier School - Rangi-mata-rau
- Pomaria Primary School
- Ponsonby Primary
- Porirua East Primary
- Porirua Montessori Primary
- Poroutawhao School
- Porritt Primary School
- Portobello School
- Prospect School
- Pukekohe North School
- Pukerua Bay School
- Puketapu School
- Pukete School
- Putāruru College
- Putāruru Primary School
- Pāpāmoa College
- Pāpāmoa Primary School
- Queen Charlotte College
- Queens High School
- Raetihi Primary School
- Ramarama School
- Randwick School
- Rangeview Intermediate
- Rangeview Intermediate School
- Rangitaiki College
- Rangitīkei College
- Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School - Te Awakairangi ki Tai
- Raureka School
- Rawene School
- Redwoodtown School
- Remuera Intermediate
- Reporoa Primary School
- Richmond Primary School
- Richmond Road Primary School
- Riverview Primary
- Roslyn School
- Rotokawa school
- Rotorua Boys High School
- Rotorua Girls High School
- Rotorua Lakes High School
- Rotorua Intermediate
- Rotorua Primary School
- Ruakākā Primary
- Ruapehu College
- Ruawai College
- Rudolf Steiner Dunedin
- Rutherford Intermediate School Whanganui
- Rutherford Primary
- Rātā Street School
- Sacred Heart Girls College New Plymouth
- Selwyn Park School
- Shannon School Te Kura o Hanana
- Shelly Park Primary
- Silverstream School
- Snells Beach School
- Somerfield School - Te Kura Wairepo
- Somerville Intermediate School
- South Featherston School
- South Otago High School
- Spring Creek School
- St Anthony's, Pahiatua
- St Bernadette’s School Forbury
- St Brendans School Upper Hutt
- St Brigids School, Johnsonville
- St Brigid’s, Dunedin
- St James’ Catholic School, Palmerston North
- St Joseph’s Cathedral College Dunedin
- St Joseph's Catholic School Whakatāne
- St Josephs School, Upper Hutt
- St Joseph's School, Levin
- St Joseph's, Otahuhu
- St Mary's Blenheim
- St Mary's Catholic School, Gisborne
- St Mary's, Foxton
- St Patrick's Primary, Marton
- St Patrick’s College
- St Thomas More Catholic School
- St Thomas of Canterbury College
- Stanmore Bay Primary
- Strathmore School - Te Kura o Taramoa
- Sunnybrae Normal Primary School
- Sunnyvale Primary school
- Swanson School
- Sylvia Park School
- Taita College
- Tai Wananga ki Ruakura
- Tai Wananga Tū Toa
- Taihape Area School
- Tainui School - Ōtepoti Dunedin
- Taipa Area School
- Tairangi School
- Tamaki College
- Tamatea Primary School
- Taneatua School
- Tararua College
- Tarawera Highschool
- Target Road Primary
- Taupiri School
- Tauranga Girls College
- Tauranga Intermediate
- Tauranga Primary School
- Tauranga Waldorf School
- Tawa School
- Tawhero School
- Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu
- Te Akatārere Woodlands School
- Te Akau ki Pāpāmoa School
- Te Ao Tawhiti
- Te Ara Koropiko West Spreydon School
- Te Ara Whanui Kura Kaupapa Maori
- Te Aute College
- Te Awamutu Intermediate
- Te Hau Karetu
- Te Hihi School
- Te Hiwa Shirley Primary School
- Te Horo School
- Te Hāpara School
- Te Kamo Intermediate
- Te Kūiti High School
- Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Harataunga
- Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Uri a Māui
- Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Takapau
- Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Orini ki Ngāti Awa
- Te Kura Mana Māori o Matahi
- Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae
- Te Kura o Cobden - Cobden School
- Te Kura o Hato Hōhepa Te Kamura
- Te Kura o Hirangi
- Te Kura o Katikati
- Te Kura o Kimi Ora
- Te Kura o Kokohuia
- Te Kura o Maarawaewae - Greerton Village School
- Te Kura o Maketū
- Te Kura o Mangaweka
- Te Kura O Manunui
- Te Kura o Manutuke
- Te Kura o Marama, Clearview Primary
- Te Kura o Matapihi
- Te Kura o Matarangi Northcote School
- Te Kura o Maungatapu – Maungatapu School
- Te Kura o Melville
- Te Kura o Miritana - Milson School
- Te Kura o Ngā Puna Waiora
- Te Kura o Ngaati Hauaa, Cambridge
- Te kura o Okiwi ki te moutere o Aotea
- Te Kura o Otari
- Te Kura o Pukehinahina – Gate Pa School
- Te Kura o Pūtiki - Rosebank School
- Te Kura o Rangiriri
- Te kura o Takaro
- Te Kura o Te Kauaeranga - Thames South School
- Te Kura o Te Ngakau Tapu Sacred Heart School
- Te Kura o Te Teko - doitz!
- Te Kura o Tiaho - Tiaho Primary School
- Te Kura o Tuahiwi
- Te Kura o Urumutu (West End School)
- Te Kura o Waikare
- Te Kura o Wairau
- Te kura o Ōhaupō
- Te Kura o Ōmahu
- Te Kura o Ōmanaia
- Te Kura o Ōmata
- Te kura takiwa o Opononi
- Te Kura Tamatāne o Heretaunga
- Te Kura Taumata o Pangaru
- Te Kura Taumata Rau o Te Kirikiri - Remarkables Primary School
- Te Kura Tuatahi o Kaiapoi
- Te Kura Tuatahi o Papaioea - Central Normal School
- Te Kura Waenga o Tirohanga, Monrad Intermediate
- Te Kura ā iwi o Ngāti Kauwhata
- Te kura ā iwi o Pawarenga
- Te Kura ā Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano
- Te Kāpehu Riccarton School
- Te Kāreti o Kuranui
- Te Kāreti o Makoura
- Te Kāreti o Manaia, Solway Girls College
- Te Mahoe School
- Te Manukura Papaioea
- Te Mata Primary School
- Te Pahu School
- Te Paina School
- Te Papapa school
- Te Pouahi Māori Medium Immersion Syndicate Nelson Central School
- Te Puke Primary School
- Te Puru School
- Te Pā o Rākaihautu
- Te Pūtahi Māori o Manurewa
- Te Rā School
- Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa
- Te Tai Whanake Porrit School
- Te Uru Karaka Newton Central School
- Te Uru Tarata Lemonwood Grove School
- Te Wharau School
- Te Wharekura o Mauao
- Te Wharekura o Ngā Purapura o Te Aroha
- Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai
- Te Wharekura o Tauranga Ahomatua
- Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha
- Te Whata Tau o Putauaki
- Thames High School
- The Terrace School
- Thornton School
- Timatanga Community School
- Titahi Bay School
- TKKM o Hawaiki Hou
- TKKM o Horouta Wananga
- TKKM o Manawatu
- TKKM o Ngaringaomatariki
- TKKM o Ngā Uri a Maui
- TKKM o Puau Te Moananui a Kiwa
- TKKM o Te Matai
- TKKM o Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea
- TKKM o Te Rito
- TKKM o Tupoho
- TKKM o Wairarapa
- TKKM o Waiuku
- TKKM o Whangaroa
- Tolaga Bay Area School
- Tongariro School
- Trident High School
- Trinity Catholic College
- TTKM o Tūtūtarakihi
- Tua Marina School
- Tuakau Primary School
- Turitea School
- Tītahi Bay North School
- Upokongaro School Community
- Upper Harbour Primary School
- Upper Hutt School
- Verran Primary School
- Victory Primary School
- Waatea School
- Waiatarau Freemans Bay School
- Waihi Beach School
- Waihi College
- Waihī Central School
- Waikawa Bay School
- Waikino School
- Waikowhai School
- Waimārama School
- Wainuiomata High School
- Waiopehu College
- Waipu Primary
- Wairarapa College
- Wairere school
- Waitakere College
- Waitara Central School
- Waitohu School Otaki
- Waiuku College
- Waiwhetu School
- Waterloo School
- Waverley Park School
- Welcome Bay School
- Wellington Girls College
- Wellington High School - Te Kura Tuarua o Taraika ki Pukeahu
- West Rolleston Primary School
- Westland High School
- Westmere School Te Rehu
- Whakatāne High School
- Whakatāne Intermediate
- Whangaroa College
- Whangarā School
- Whangārei Girls High School
- Whangārei Heads School
- Whanganui Girls College
- Whatawhata School
- Whau Valley School
- Whitney Street Primary School
- Whītau School
- William Colenso College
- Willow Park Primary
- Winchester School
- Windley School
- Windy Ridge School
- Wiri Central School
- Woodville Kura
- Worser Bay School – Te Kura o Whetūkairangi
- Wānaka Primary School
