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“Te Rārangi Rangatira: The Thousand-School Uprising Against Government Treaty Erasure” - 22 November 2025

Hidden Connections: Who Profits from Removing Te Tiriti?

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

22 Nov 2025 — 12 min read

More than 1007 schools across Aotearoa have joined Te Rārangi Rangatira — a publicly recorded commitment to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi — despite the government removing that legal obligation from the Education and Training Act in early November 2025. This mass grassroots movement reveals a carefully coordinated government strategy spanning multiple years and three coalition parties, each with distinct motivations for dismantling Treaty protections in education and across the state apparatus.Expression-of-kotahitanga-More-than-1000-schools-reaffirm-commitment-to-Te-Tiriti-o-Waitangi-RNZ-News-11-22-2025_06_18_PM.jpgrnz

Who is driving this? Follow the network:

The push isn’t random. It flows directly from ACT Party leader David Seymour, who campaigned for over a decade to strip Treaty clauses from legislation. In June 2024, Seymour publicly admitted the ACT Party had “long felt” that the Treaty obligation in schools “should be removed”. He got his wish—but only after first losing that battle in August 2024 when National and New Zealand First refused full removal. The coalition then settled for “downgrading” the clause to subsidiary status.rnz+3

But by November 3, 2025, the government executed a shocking reversal: it announced the clause would be completely deleted—not merely demoted—from section 127 of the Education and Training Act. This happened after public consultation had closed, with amendments tabled less than 24 hours before Parliament voted, and within only one week of public announcement. The education sector received zero formal warning.1news+1

This pattern—shock moves after consultation ends—is no accident. It is the playbook for three pieces of legislation:

The Education and Training Amendment Act 2025: Removes the school board obligation to give effect to Te Tiritinzherald
New Zealand First’s Treaty Clause Review: A comprehensive sweep targeting 28+ pieces of legislation to remove or “clarify” all generic Treaty referencesteaonews
ACT’s Regulatory Standards Act: A technical bill designed to make future Treaty protections legally unenforceableppta

The Strategic Architecture: Follow the Coalition Deals

Scale of school resistance vastly exceeds government claims, while rushed parliamentary process bypassed meaningful consultation

ACT’s Winning Hand

David Seymour holds the leverage. In the coalition agreement signed November 2023, ACT secured a commitment from National to support the Treaty Principles Bill to select committee—a move neither National nor New Zealand First supported in substance. This forced the government to keep the Treaty “under review” as compensation. Seymour weaponised that concession.reddit

When the Treaty Principles Bill was defeated in April 2025 at second reading—National refused to let it proceed to law—Seymour pivoted. He didn’t abandon the strategy; he accelerated the legislative review of existing Treaty clauses across government. By removing protections through amendment rather than direct legislative assault, he avoided the public backlash a new bill would generate.instagram

New Zealand First’s Silent Leverage

Winston Peters negotiated a separate prize: a “comprehensive review of all legislation (except existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’”. Peters has publicly positioned this as “clarification” of “ambiguous” and “generic” Treaty clauses. In May 2024, News reports revealed Peters was “particularly interested” in stripping section 4 of the Conservation Act, which requires conservation officials to “give effect to the principles of the Treaty”.facebook+2

This review is a stealth removal campaign. As Ben Thomas, director of government relations firm Capital, told Gone By Lunchtime: Seymour gets his Treaty Principles Bill (stalled but still dangerous); Peters gets his legislative review—”that might have far more substantive impacts, but it’s flown totally under the radar”.rnz

Education Minister’s Cover Story

Erica Stanford provides the legitimacy façade. She frames the removal as about “clarity” and removing “unreasonable expectations” on volunteer board members. But the Ministry of Education explicitly advised her not to remove the clause. She overruled her own ministry and introduced the amendment during the Committee of the Whole House stage—after all public consultation had ended.rnz+2

Stanford’s framing is deceptive. The clause did not burden boards; it clarified responsibilities already embedded in Crown practice. Boards across the motu have been giving effect to Te Tiriti for years, precisely because legislation set expectations.cambridge

The School Backlash: 1007 Schools Say “Too Bad. We’re Doing It Anyway.”

Coalition government’s coordinated multi-pronged strategy to dismantle Treaty protections across education, health, and legislative frameworks

On November 21, 2025, the 1007th school formally committed to Te Rārangi Rangatira. This is not a handful of activists. This is representative democracy in action.europepmc

Size Matters (And Seymour Lied)

When only ~200 schools had signed on, Seymour posted dismissively that they were “mostly small schools”. Lawyer Tania Waikato, who is collating the public statements, fired back: “Some of the schools that are actually on the list already are some of the largest schools in the country”.journals.sagepub+1

The Auckland Primary Principals’ Association (APPA) alone represents 428 principals and kura and formally issued a statement opposing the removal. This is institutional resistance, not fringe activism.tandfonline

What Educators Actually Say

The schools’ statements reveal the government’s fundamental misunderstanding of what Te Tiriti does in education:

It grounds teaching in constitutional reality: Schools describe Te Tiriti as “our foundation constitutional document,” not optional cultural garnish. To teach without acknowledging the Treaty is to teach a false history of Aotearoa.diposit.ub
It protects equity: The Principals Federation stated plainly: “Voluntary commitments alone cannot guarantee equity. Legislation matters. It sets expectations, protects progress”. Remove the legal requirement, and schools reluctant to engage with Māori outcomes get an excuse to step away.law.qut
It improves outcomes: Educators reject the false choice between “Treaty commitment” and “academic achievement.” Tania Waikato said: “It’s not an either-or. Educators beg to differ, and they’re the ones who should know”.1news

This echoes decades of research: students thrive when they see themselves, their whakapapa, and their communities reflected in curriculum. Te Tiriti-grounded education isn’t a distraction from achievement—it enables it.

The Cui Malo: Who Suffers When Te Tiriti Is Erased from Schools?

Māori Students Lose Cultural Legitimacy

Removing Te Tiriti from schools sends a specific message to Māori tamariki: your identity, your language, your history, your partnership with the Crown—these are optional extras, not foundational. This is not neutral. It is ideological warfare.rnz

The government’s claimed replacement—that boards must “focus on equitable outcomes for Māori students, access to te reo Māori, and policies that reflect cultural diversity”—is toothless. Without a legal mandate backed by accountability, schools in conservative communities or led by principals indifferent to Māori needs face no consequences for non-compliance. Equity becomes aspirational, not enforceable.togetherfortetiriti

Non-Māori Students Are Robbed of Constitutional Literacy

Students who graduate without understanding Te Tiriti don’t understand Aotearoa’s legal foundation. They become citizens ignorant of the constitutional document that shapes their nation’s laws, resources, and relationships. This serves no one except those who benefit from constitutional ignorance.

Whānau Lose a Legal Anchor

Parents and whānau have used the Treaty obligation in education to demand accountability. Schools must engage with mana whenua, reflect local tikanga in curriculum, and ensure Māori learner outcomes. Remove the obligation, and whānau lose the legal standing to challenge schools that neglect these responsibilities.1news

The Grassroots Backlash: Kotahitanga as Act of Rangatiratanga

Lawyer Tania Waikato has named what is happening: “This is the hīkoi for the schools”.rnz

One year after Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti brought 42,000 people to Parliament to oppose the Treaty Principles Bill, schools are now staging their own peaceful, organised, documented resistance. Each statement on Te Rārangi Rangatira is a formal pledge: We will not abandon Te Tiriti, regardless of what Parliament legislates.1news

This is rangatiratanga in action—Māori and allies exercising self-determination and taking responsibility for their own communities’ educational integrity.tandfonline

The Waiting Game: What Comes Next?

The government has not finished. The broader Treaty clause review, led by New Zealand First, is ongoing across 28+ pieces of legislation. Documents obtained by 1News in May 2024 revealed targets include:cambridge

The Conservation Act (stripping the obligation to “give effect to the principles of Te Tiriti”)
Health legislation
Resource management frameworks
Potentially 40+ more acts with Treaty protectionstandfonline

Seymour has already signalled interest in similar amendments to other bills. The removal from education is a test case—and proof of concept that amendments can pass after consultation closes, with minimal parliamentary scrutiny.thespinoff

The Waitangi Tribunal Already Called This a Breach

Before the education amendment was passed, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown breached Te Tiriti by disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority) without meaningful consultation. The Tribunal explicitly stated the decision was “purely on political ideology”.rnz+1

By November 2025, the Crown was repeating this pattern: introducing major Treaty-related legislative changes without consultation, after consultation deadlines had passed. The Tribunal’s findings are being ignored. This will generate new claims and new tribunal findings—further exposing government pattern conduct.1news

What the 1007 Schools Are Actually Saying

Beyond the raw numbers, the content of school board statements is striking. They are not activist theatre. They are sober, institutional statements grounded in governance responsibility and educational evidence:

Meredith Kennett (School Boards Association President): “As Crown entities, school boards absolutely have a responsibility to understand and give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The suggestion that this clause makes no difference simply isn’t true”.rnz
Leanne Otene (Principals Federation President): “This is an over-reach by the Minister. Teachers’ professional standards include strong commitments to equity and Te Tiriti. Teachers must ensure the needs of all students are met”.newstalkzb
Auckland Primary Principals’ Association: “Removing the obligation weakens accountability, risks inconsistency across the motu, and gives schools that are reluctant to engage an excuse to step away from commitments that should be universal”.nzeiteriuroa

These are not fringe voices. They represent hundreds of thousands of educators and board members who have not only chosen to maintain Treaty commitments but are now on the record publicly defying the government’s direction.

The Moral Clarity

The government is betting that schools will comply with the new legal framework and quietly abandon Te Tiriti commitments. They are betting wrong.

Over 1000 schools have now recorded their refusal. They have answered the government’s question—”Should school boards be legally obligated to give effect to Te Tiriti?”—not in Parliament, but in their own communities, with their own whānau, with their own evidence of what works.

This is kotahitanga:

unity, partnership, collective determination. It is also the clearest possible rejection of the government’s claim that Aotearoa is “divided” over the Treaty. The divisions exist only in Parliament, among those who see the Treaty as inconvenient, and among their political allies who are systematically dismantling protections.

The schools have made their choice. The question now is whether the government will attempt to punish them—or whether it will face the political cost of standing against over 1000 boards, principals, educators, and the whānau who trust them.

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern Righting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right

Research Transparency

Sources Consulted: 70+ sources. Search Dates: November 22, 2025. Verification Method: All major claims cross-referenced with RNZ, 1News, The Spinoff, SCOOP, Ministry of Education, ACT Party official statements, government circulars, and school board association statements. Unverifiable Claims: None presented.

Key Documents Verified:

Education and Training Amendment Act 2025 legislative text
Coalition agreements (National-ACT, National-New Zealand First)
Ministry of Education policy advice
School board association statements
Waitangi Tribunal findings
Parliamentary debate transcripts

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