The announcement of New Zealand's first charter schools today is already facing major blowback with the teachers' union threatening a boycott and Opposition parties promising to scrap them.



The Government announced this morning that the first five partnership schools would be established in Auckland and Northland. They would open at the beginning of the next school year with an expected 369 students.



The schools, which get government funding but have private sponsors and can be run for profit, can set their own hours, curriculum and pay rates for teachers who do not have to be qualified.



They are not subject to the Official Information Act, prompting accusations they are ideologically driven and lack oversight.



The Government says the schools are a new way of reaching the 20 per cent of students - overwhelmingly from Maori and Pacific Island and poorer backgrounds - who are failing in the existing school system.



Prime Minister John Key said the schools - part of the confidence and supply agreement between ACT and National - would have greater autonomy from government regulations, including being able to employ non-registered teachers.



However, he said registered teachers would play a part in curriculum delivery at all five schools.



The schools would be able to develop their own approaches to teaching and focus on specialist areas of learning - such as defence studies and agriculture.



"And they can answer a particular need in their communities such as with faith-based or culturally responsive schooling," he said.



The schools, which will have six-year contracts, will be held accountable for results and would report quarterly to the Ministry of Education and be monitored by the Partnership Schools Advisory Board.



All will deliver the New Zealand curriculum or Te Marautanga O Aotearoa - the Maori medium curriculum.



Education Minister Hekia Parata said the schools would "help young Kiwis be the best they can by helping raise aspirations and encouraging them to succeed".



Parata said that if the schools were found not to be performing, the Government would work with them to try to improve things. The ultimate sanction being forced closure.



The number of students at the schools could rise to 840 over the term of the contract.



Associate Education Minister and ACT leader John Banks called the schools a "great achievement" for the Government. The approved organisations had met strict criteria and would provide more choice.



"ACT believes parents should be able to choose the education option best suited for their child's needs," he said.



The Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) said it planned to fight the establishment of the schools "every step of the way". A paper exploring how they will do it to be put to its national conference.



Junior vice-president Hazel McIntosh said today marked the beginning of a "terrible experiment on New Zealand's children that must be stopped in its tracks".



The PPTA was looking at options including instructing members to refrain from all professional, sporting and cultural contact with the schools and their sponsors, and advising them not to apply for positions there.



They also wanted the $19 million set aside for charter schools - which the Government expects will increase - to be redirected to proven programmes.



"The evidence of just how destructive charter schools will be to our public education system is overwhelming." McIntosh said.



"It beggars belief that we would introduce them here in the face of all the damage they have done to vulnerable students in communities overseas." The schools lacked oversight and protection for students, she said.



New Zealand Education Institute President Judith Nowotarski said the Government had wasted $19m on the five new ventures that will initially cater for 369 students, at a cost of more than $50,000 per student.



"Fundamentally, this is about privatising the delivery of education and the Government does not care if it costs taxpayers large sums of money to do so."



Schools wanted better resourcing and support for at-risk kids, but charter schools were not the answer, she said.



One of the five schools would have student-teacher rations of 1 to 15, Nowotarski said.



"It is ironic that only last year the Government tried to increase class sizes in public schools. Clearly there is one rule for the Government's friends in the private sector and another for public education."



Overseas evidence showed that charter schools did not bring any improvement to a country's overall educational achievement.



Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said the schools were an "attack on public education".



Her party would repeal them if the Greens became part of the government.



"Today's announcement is a body blow for public education in New Zealand, as the fundamentals of a strong, free and quality public education are attacked by the Government's plan for a second-class schooling option for disadvantaged kids," she said.



Turei said the charter school model was "all about reducing the cost of education in the long term, by allowing businesses to run schools cheaply by employing unqualified staff and reducing education to key performance indicators".



"We have serious concerns that this experiment is being trialled on Maori, Pacific and underprivileged kids," she said.



Partnership Schools Authorisation Board chairwoman Catherine Isaac said the schools would make a "life-changing difference for some of New Zealand's most disadvantaged students, many of whom are under-served by the current system".



The selected schools had willingly adopted the rigorous performance regime.



"The application process, which attracted 35 applicants, was thorough and robust," Isaac said.



"Those selected had to demonstrate in writing and through interviews and other investigation, that their school would be strong academically, well run, and connected with their communities." Maori, Pacific Island, and Christian organisations had dominated the list of applicants.



Three of the new schools have formed Te Kahui Kura Hourua o Aotearoa, the Association of Partnership Schools of New Zealand, to give them more of a voice and better explain their cause.



"We have different backgrounds and different kaupapa, but the goal is just the same - to make sure the children at partnership schools are learning, achieving and succeeding," spokesman Alwyn Poole said.



They were in talks with the other two schools, he said.



The schools are:



- The Vanguard Military School for years 11-13 in Albany, Auckland. The school will use a military ethos and training and will be sponsored by Advance Training Centres Ltd.



-Te Kura Hourua o Whangarei Terenga Paraoa sponsored by He Puna Marama Charitable Trust for year 7-13 Maori students in Whangarei.



Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru sponsored by Nga Parirau Matauranga Trust for years 9-13 in Whangaruru, Northland. The bilingual school will target Maori students and have additional learning opportunities including farming and outdoor education.



- The Rise UP Academy in Mangere, South Auckland, for years 1-6 and sponsored by Rise UP Trust. - South Auckland Middle School sponsored by Villa Education Trust for years 7-10. The school will focus on project-based learning, based on Christian philosophy and values.