Abstract
New Zealand's Labour-led Government elected in 2017 has been signalling more progressive school-level education policies than in the past but it is hard to see much that has come to fruition. A key obstacle to change is important constraints on this government in moving away from the neo-liberal policy directions of the past. Privatisation of schooling is a continuing issue. A recent review of Tomorrow's Schools, New Zealand's self-managing schools policy of the last three decades, called for greater state involvement in the running of schools but saw resistance from school leaders. Meanwhile, the strong involvement of private actors providing services to the school system continues under the Labour-led Government, partly because after decades of privatisation this government no longer has the capacity to provide all educational services even if it wanted to. The New Zealand experience illustrates how difficult it may be to reverse processes of privatisation, once they become embedded in an education system. This paper reviews the history and current situation in New Zealand. It is suggested that teachers and principals must become more discerning consumers of private goods and services by becoming more knowledgeable about the organisations they are dealing with.
