That equates to about $46,500 per student in charter schools compared to about $9000 per student in a state school.
“Only in David Seymour’s world does it make sense to pour millions into a failed experiment for a couple hundred students yet restrict funding for school lunches for hundreds of thousands of other students,” Labour’s education spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said.
“Each student in a charter school is costing the taxpayer more than five times what it costs per student in state schools. This is what happened last time. Yet again we are watching public education money being siphoned off into private hands with little transparency.
“This is an insult to the many schools throughout the country who are strapped for cash and sending kids home hungry because of David Seymour’s ideological choices.
“We know from the past failures of charter schools that the high cost does not improve results for students and only puts profits before kids.
“Schools are relying on Erica Stanford to take a stand against these bad ideas, but her silence is deafening.
“Labour has abolished charter schools before and will do so again. They’re a waste of time and money,” Willow-Jean Prime said.