School models and what the state provides in classrooms are on the table.
Charter schools are state-funded but have more freedom over curriculum, staffing and hours. They were closed in 2018 and reintroduced in 2024.
ACT championed reintroducing charter schools, with Seymour securing funding for new and converted charter schools, and it continues to campaign on expanding school choice. Source
The Greens voted against the 2024 law re-establishing charter schools and have long opposed them as privatising public education. Source
Labour voted against the 2024 charter school law and pledged to scrap them, though Hipkins later suggested existing schools could be given options to change. Source
National's government passed the 2024 legislation re-establishing charter schools, with new schools opening in 2025 and 2026 and state schools able to convert. Source
NZ First voted for the 2024 law re-establishing charter schools as part of the coalition, though it has not campaigned prominently on expanding them. Source
Te Pāti Māori voted against the 2024 charter school law, although the party has previously spoken positively about kura hourua outcomes for Māori students. Source
UnconfirmedNo public position found. Opportunity's education policy focuses on a cross-party plan and curriculum, teachers and vocational learning, and does not mention charter schools. Source
The Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme provides free lunches in schools with higher disadvantage. Its scope and cost per meal have been cut and debated.
As minister responsible, Seymour cut per-meal costs and signalled more targeted eligibility from 2028, rather than extending free lunches to every school. Source
The Greens would restore, permanently fund and expand the school lunch programme to about 400 more schools, but their 2026 plan stops short of every school. Source
Labour would return to locally made lunches at the roughly 1,000 schools already covered, and says it may extend to every school over time but is not promising it. Source
The National-led government kept a lower-cost lunch programme funded for 2027 while reviewing who should qualify, pointing to targeting rather than universal provision. Source
UnconfirmedNo clear public position found on making school lunches universal; NZ First has backed the coalition's continued, targeted programme. Source
UnconfirmedTe Pāti Māori has criticised government changes to the lunch programme, but no policy to offer free lunches at every school was found. Source
UnconfirmedNo public position found. Opportunity's education policy does not mention school lunches. Source