Frequently asked questions

Every morning of the school term, more than a million New Zealand parents drop their kids at the gate.  We do it with deep gratitude for hardworking teachers and faith they are working for the best outcomes. 

What happens in the school and early childhood system is vital to our children’s future.  We are all passionate about them receiving the best possible education to succeed in life.  But in the education policy debate we have no voice.  

The Parents' Alliance exists to give parents and grandparents a strong voice in education policies that shape our children’s future.  We work to ensure parents are informed, represented, and heard in decisions affecting their children's education.

Teachers have unions. Principals have professional associations. Government Ministers have ministries and departments. Until now, parents have had no equivalent national voice. 

We provide the parent perspective in the media and the corridors of power on education related issues.

We are the guardians of our children. Our voice in education is critical. 

The core values of the Parents’ Alliance are: 

1. Education shapes our childrens’ future - A high-performing education system is one of the strongest determinants of New Zealand’s long-term economic strength and social cohesion. The choices made today will define where the country stands in 30 years.
2. Better outcomes lift living standards - Strong academic achievement is a proven pathway out of poverty and low-income disadvantage. Improving learning outcomes is one of the most effective ways to expand opportunity and raise living standards for all New Zealanders.
3. Parents are essential partners in education- Parents are children’s first educators and the Government’s primary partner in improving early childhood and schooling outcomes. They should be meaningfully represented throughout education policy development and system design.
4. Educational progress and achievement matters - Every child deserves an education system that prioritises strong academic foundations, knowledge, skills, and lifelong learning. Achievement is not optional - it is central to wellbeing, opportunity and future success.
5. Competence builds confidence - Helping children succeed academically and personally is the surest way to build confidence, resilience and long-term opportunity. When children master knowledge, skills and can think critically, they gain the self-belief needed to thrive.
6. Equality of opportunity is fundamental - Every child should have access to a high-quality education, regardless of background, circumstance or geography. This means ensuring all children can reach their potential - not lowering expectations.
7. Schools should be socially neutral environments – Schools should focus on learning, remain socially and politically neutral, and respect the central role of parents in shaping their children’s values.  State (non integated) schools are required by law to be secular, and should respect the diverse social, cultural and political values of the families they serve. Subjects such as history, social studies and civics explore differing ideas and contested issues, and should be taught impartially. We support children being taught how to think, not what to think. 
8. Parents and children deserve both voice and choice - Parents should have a meaningful voice in education policy and, wherever practical, access to a diverse range of high-quality schooling options. Choice empowers families and strengthens the education system.

New Zealand faces significant educational challenges, including declining achievement, widening disparities, and growing concerns about educational standards. At the same time, many parents feel excluded from decisions affecting their children's education. The need for a strong, independent voice for parents has never been greater.

The OECD noted in their 2024 Economic Survey of New Zealand that “Student achievement is declining and equity is not improving, and outcomes are too variable even in the same school.” That is a call to arms. 

No.  We’re proudly politically independent and nonpartisan.  We will work with any and all parties, politicians and stakeholder groups to further our aims.

We support policies that are evidence-based and improve educational outcomes regardless of which political party proposes them. Likewise, we will oppose policies that undermine those goals regardless of which parties are in Government.

Our initial policies are laid out in Six for our Kids on the Policies page on our website.  We will develop a comprehensive suite of education policies over time. Sometimes we will be proactive, at other times we will be reactive. 

The Parents' Alliance is governed by an independent Board of Directors which has ultimate responsibility for agreeing policies. We will survey and poll parents on issues regularly to get the 'mood of the parent nation'. 

Net positive support means more people support the policy than oppose it.  It is the margin between support and opposition for the policy, not the total level of support.  For example, our Learning First policy had 4% net positive support among Green voters.  This means the balance of opinion is positive among Green voters, with four percentage points more supporting the policy than opposing it. It doesn't mean only 4% of Green voters support this policy. 

We represent all parents with children in all schools and early learning centres. Most students in New Zealand are enrolled in state schools so our focus is likely to be more on issues affecting state and state integrated schools.  However, our membership and advocacy work includes many parents  of children in early childhood education, private (independent) schools, designated character schools, charter schools, Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori-medium schools) and Te Kura (The Correspondence School).

Membership is open to anyone who supports the purposes of the organisation. 

Parents should be free to choose the educational environment that best suits their child. The overwhelming majority of New Zealand children attend state schools, and strong state schools are essential to a successful education system. The Parents' Alliance supports efforts to improve outcomes across the state sector and ensure every family has access to high-quality schooling.

You do!  Research and advocacy cost money. Unions draw on every teacher’s salary.  They’re entitled to do that and play an important role in society but unless parents work together, the system will be weighted to the interests of teachers, not children. 

So Donate. Organise. Tell your friends.  Lend your voice. Send them this link and encourage them to join us:  www.parentsalliance.nz 

Parents should be free to choose the educational environment that best suits their child. We support educational models that demonstrate strong outcomes for students and provide meaningful choice for families. Any schooling model should be assessed according to evidence, accountability, results and value for money rather than ideology. We are interested in what works for children and their families. 

Parents should be free to choose the educational environment that best suits their child. We support educational models that demonstrate strong outcomes for students and provide meaningful choice for families. Any schooling model should be assessed according to evidence, accountability, results and value for money rather than ideology. We are interested in what works for children and their families. 

Absolutely not! We love teachers! Parents and teachers should be partners. Children benefit most when schools and families work together with mutual respect and shared purpose - it's called the "home-school partnership". Teachers bring professional expertise and experience. Parents bring unique knowledge of their children and a lifelong commitment to their wellbeing.

The Parents' Alliance does not pass judgement on how people parent, nor do we claim to be experts on parenting. We aren’t perfect parents and our children aren’t perfect children! Every family is different, and parenting decisions are deeply personal. Our focus is not on telling parents how to raise their children. Our focus is on improving the education system that serves them.

We won’t be taking up individual grievances against a teacher or a principal on a parent's behalf.  We intend to publish some guidelines around how to make a complaint and talk about difficult subjects with your child’s teacher and principal. 

One policy in Six for Our Kids is an annual parental satisfaction survey with mandated questions and a requirement that the results are published on each school’s website. This will shine light on issues within a school, and, we hope, prompt action and improve transparency.

Parents are not a monolithic group and will sometimes disagree on educational issues. The Parents' Alliance does not seek to eliminate disagreement. Instead, we seek to ensure parents are heard and that education policy is informed by evidence, transparency, and open debate.

We have polled our initial policy platform Six for our Kids.  Each policy has overwhelming support from parents, regardless of how they vote. 

Parents are the people most responsible for their children's education, development, and wellbeing. Strengthening the role of parents is one of the most effective ways to improve outcomes for children. The interests of parents and children are not competing interests. In most cases, they are closely aligned.

Education is currently largely represented through the view of teachers.  We have huge respect for teachers, their roles, the challenges they face as society’s evils have encroached on the classroom (i.e. poverty).  However, sometimes teachers’ views as represented in the media or in policy development conflict with parents. 

The Parents' Alliance exists for one purpose: to represent the interests of parents in education. The education system exists to serve our children, and as parents we need a voice at the table on national policy issues. 

Unlike professional associations, unions, government agencies, or sector bodies, our primary responsibility is to advocate for parents and the educational success of their children.

We set out to bring together research, advocacy, public engagement, and practical support under a single parent-focused organisation.

Our initial focus is getting a commitment to implement Six for Our Kids which is on the Policies page.  We will continue to engage with parents across New Zealand to identify the issues that matter most to them, for example support for neurodiversity. This is a significant issue for families. 

Success would mean that New Zealand once again has one of the world's strongest education systems that all children access and benefit from.  It would mean parents are recognised as genuine partners in education, educational achievement is improving, schools are accountable to the communities they serve, and every child has access to an excellent education.

Ultimately, success means creating a system that equips the next generation to flourish.

Add your name. Donate. Tell your friends and family to do the same. 

If you have skills in social media, legal advice, communications and funding requests, we would love to hear from you.  Email hello@parentsalliance.nz with a description of what experience you have, and how you’d like to help.