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For the 2026 New Zealand general election, the clearest differences are around who should control education decisions, how strongly Te Tiriti should shape schools, and whether Māori-medium education and te reo Māori should be actively expanded or left more to parental/school choice.

One important current fact: the Waitangi Tribunal’s September 2026 report found that aspects of the Government’s curriculum reforms breached Treaty principles, including partnership and active protection of te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori. It specifically recommended renewed partnership with Māori in designing Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori curriculum. Tribunal releases report on the reform of the national curriculum | Waitangi Tribunal

At a glance

Party	Māori-medium / kaupapa Māori education	Te reo Māori	Support for children at school	Te Tiriti & Māori participation
National	Supports Māori-medium provision and says Budget 2026 includes support for it; current government has continued funding for Māori-medium/kaupapa Māori schools. Budget invests in the future of te reo Māori | National Party	Teacher training and resources, including Te Ataarangi for 50,000 teachers and new Māori-language curriculum resources. Māori education package and draft curriculum release as school starts | National Party	Strong emphasis on literacy, numeracy, attendance and achievement; Budget 2026 includes $268m over four years for student-support programmes and $213m for school lunches. Student support - Ministry of Education	Has removed the former statutory requirement for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti and is reviewing/reducing some Treaty references in legislation. Ensuring Treaty references are consistent | National Party
Labour	Says it would work in partnership with Māori and restore stronger Māori leadership in education. Release: Labour will partner with Māori in education	Explicitly supports restoring Te Tiriti commitments in schools and says it will work with kura and communities to strengthen reo and Māori education. Release: Labour will restore Te Tiriti commitment in schools	Emphasises evidence-based curriculum, stability, expert assessment, and parental confidence; its wider 2026 programme includes Māori-led employment/training support. Release: Labour to give parents confidence in their children’s education	Would restore the school-board obligation to give effect to Te Tiriti and describes Māori partnership in education as a commitment. Release: Labour will restore Te Tiriti commitment in schools
Green	Strong support for Māori-led education and Te Tiriti-centred approaches; its manifesto puts rangatiratanga and community power at the centre. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand	Proposes $50m extra per year: $30m for continuous te reo professional development for teachers and $20m for Te Taura Whiri and Te Mātāwai. Ake, Ake, Ake: Green Party commits $200m to the future of te reo Māori - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand	Broader approach centred on social support, community services and reducing material hardship alongside education.	Commits to putting Te Tiriti at the heart of government and strengthening rangatiratanga of iwi and hapū. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Te Pāti Māori	The strongest emphasis on Māori-led education authority, Māori governance and Māori solutions; wants barriers to education removed and mātauranga Māori properly embedded. Policy - Te Pāti Māori	Wants to strengthen and normalise te reo Māori everywhere, with community-led revitalisation and greater state accountability. Policy - Te Pāti Māori	Frames education around identity, belonging, hauora, Māori potential and whānau authority, alongside academic success. Maipi-Clarke Backs Tribunal Scrutiny of Education Reform - Te Pāti Māori	Proposes substantially stronger Māori constitutional participation: an independent Te Tiriti Commission, binding Waitangi Tribunal recommendations and a $220m Matike Mai Fund. TE PĀTI MĀORI LAUNCHES TE TIRITI ENTRENCHMENT POLICY - Te Pāti Māori
ACT	Supports parental/school choice rather than statutory Māori/Treaty requirements; charter schools are a major part of its approach. ACT New Zealand	Schools can teach te reo and tikanga, but ACT opposes compulsory Treaty-related requirements and stresses choice. ACT New Zealand	Very strong focus on literacy, numeracy, attendance, testing, accountability and alternative schooling. It also has policies on cheaper uniforms and school-bus access. ACT New Zealand	Favours a more uniform conception of citizenship and has opposed statutory Treaty obligations in schools; its 2026 policy proposes constitutional principles including equality before the law. ACT New Zealand
NZ First	Emphasises a common education system and compulsory attendance rather than Māori-specific governance. Its published material strongly criticises what it describes as “indoctrination” in schools. For the Nation, the Whole Nation, and Nothing but the Nation - NZ First	Its current policy direction puts considerably more emphasis on English as a common national language; its English Language Bill passed first reading in 2026. English Language Bill passes first reading - New Zealand First	Strong emphasis on attendance, basic literacy/numeracy and parental responsibility. For the Nation, the Whole Nation, and Nothing but the Nation - NZ First	Proposes a binding referendum on whether the Māori seats should continue and has historically opposed co-governance and Māori-specific constitutional arrangements. NZ First Bill to Enable Binding Referendum on Māori Seats at 2026 Election - New Zealand First

The Māori-medium question

If having a strong Māori-medium pathway available to your children is central, there is an important distinction between supporting existing provision and changing who has power over it.

Māori-medium/kaupapa Māori education is already separately funded: schools and kura with Level 1–2 Māori immersion students receive dedicated operational funding, while Māori-language programmes at immersion Levels 1–4 receive language-programme funding. Kaupapa Māori education and Māori-medium education support funding - Ministry of Education

National's current government has added teacher-development and curriculum resources, including a new te reo training programme for 50,000 teachers. Māori education package and draft curriculum release as school starts | National Party But the Waitangi Tribunal has found that the curriculum reform process did not adequately involve Māori and recommended returning to genuine partnership in developing Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the Māori-medium curriculum. Tribunal releases report on the reform of the national curriculum | Waitangi Tribunal

Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori are more explicit about Māori participation in determining Māori education, rather than simply providing Māori content within a centrally determined system. Labour specifically says it will enable greater Māori leadership over Māori education. Release: Labour will partner with Māori in education Te Pāti Māori goes further, proposing a Māori-led education authority and Māori governance of education. Policy - Te Pāti Māori

ACT and NZ First take a different approach: their emphasis is on common academic standards, parental choice, attendance and avoiding compulsory Treaty-related requirements. ACT explicitly says schools can choose how much te reo Māori and tikanga they teach, but should not be legally required to do so. ACT New Zealand

If your priority is support for your child at school

There are actually two different questions worth separating:

1. “Will my child get effective academic and learning support?”
2. “Will my child be supported to succeed as Māori?”

The parties weight those differently.

The current government's education programme has put substantial money into learning support. Budget 2025, for example, funded around 650 additional Learning Support Coordinator teacher-equivalents, while Budget 2026 includes additional funding for teacher aides, attendance support and healthy lunches. Learning support - Ministry of Education

ACT puts particularly strong emphasis on measurable academic outcomes, attendance, testing, parental information and school choice. ACT New Zealand

Labour combines academic standards with a more explicitly Treaty-based and Māori-partnership approach. Its proposed independent curriculum/assessment body is intended to give schools more stability and reduce politically driven curriculum changes. Release: Labour to give parents confidence in their children’s education

Te Pāti Māori and the Greens put more emphasis on the cultural, social and material conditions surrounding learning—identity, whānau, community control, hauora and Māori-led provision—rather than treating academic achievement as the sole measure of educational success. Policy - Te Pāti Māori

And for a working whānau, cost matters too

Your question isn't only about education ideology. The practical household question is what happens to the family's weekly budget and the services children rely on.

For example, Labour's 2026 platform includes a $20 weekly public-transport cap, free prescriptions and three free GP visits a year. Labour's 2026 Election Policies National is emphasising lower taxes, grocery competition, keeping rates affordable and household energy costs. 2026 Election Policy | National Party

Those are separate from the Māori-education question, so I'd avoid assuming that a party's position on Te Tiriti tells you what its policies will mean for your household finances.

A useful way to compare them

Given the things you've identified, I'd put the issues into four separate columns when reading party policies:

• Tamariki: literacy/numeracy, attendance, learning support, lunches, uniforms, transport and wellbeing.
• Reo: availability and resourcing of Māori-medium/kura kaupapa pathways and support for te reo in mainstream schools.
• Rangatiratanga: whether Māori, iwi, hapū, whānau and kura have meaningful decision-making power over Māori education.
• Whānau budget: taxes, wages, housing, food, transport, healthcare and other services that affect what is left in the household each week.

That avoids reducing the choice to a single “pro-Māori/anti-Māori” spectrum. The parties are making different trade-offs between central standards, parental choice, Māori authority, Treaty obligations and state-funded support.

If you want, I can next make this much more practical by comparing National vs Labour vs Greens vs Te Pāti Māori vs ACT vs NZ First on a working Māori household in Hamilton/Waikato, including taxes, wages, housing, groceries, transport, health, school costs, Māori services and local decision-making—with the 2026 policies and their likely stated household effects side by side.