The ACT Party core education policy for the upcoming election is to give all public schools the choice to become charter schools instead.
ACT leader Jamie Whyte said this would involve opting out of Ministry of Education funding.
Dr Whyte said leaders of state schools who thought they did not satisfy students' learning needs would be able to adopt a more efficient model that suited them.
He said the National Party had made small steps with its charter schools programme, but it had ultimately not done enough.
Other policies included slashing Ministry of Education jobs to give money back to schools and giving increased subsidies to independent schools.