Some quotes from the article:
ACT wants to give teachers the legal power to remove “seriously or persistently disruptive” students from a classroom.
Announcing the policy in Auckland on Sunday, ACT candidate Paul Henry said the law would give teachers clear legal protections and the power to regain “order” in the classroom.
"Let’s be honest, there are a lot of little shits in classrooms, and we need to address that if we’re going to lift education standards.
The current guidelines allow school staff to physically restrain students as a last resort to prevent harm. The method must also be “reasonable and proportionate”.
Asked how the policy was different from the current guidelines, Henry said his party would be “very specific what that behaviour the teacher can use is”.
ACT would make it so assaulting a teacher, staff member or student would cause an immediate removal and mandatory stand-down or suspension. Serious assaults would be referred to Police Youth Aid.
Parents would be required to get involved when behaviour became serious or repeated, and could be held liable for deliberate property damage caused by their child.
If a parent failed to attend a mandatory meeting without a reasonable excuse they could be fined up to $300 for a first offence and up to $3000 for subsequent offences.
Parents may also be held financially responsible for the cost of deliberate property damage caused by their child at school, which could be recoverable as a debt if unpaid.
I’m not too sure how different this is from the status quo, except maybe it technically removes some discretion from school in cases of assault — though I think schools would suspend kids for gross misconduct in those circumstances anyway, which they are already empowered to do.
I think ACT has really just found a way to bang the law and order drum, while appealing to their voters who think that the education system is woke and useless, and slipping in the dog-whistle of schools being full of misbehaving ‘little shits’: guess who they mean by that.