If passed unchanged, the bill would give the government the power to set high-level objectives for education and national priorities that schools must follow.
It would create online schools known as COOLs, and make it easier for schools to require five-year-olds to start school at set times during the year.
The select committee was hearing public submissions on the bill, but Judge Becroft said there had been no real consultation with children about its content.
Judge Becroft said New Zealand had signed a UN convention that said children had the right to express their views, especially on matters that affected them.
Other organisations appearing before the committee agreed.
Sarah Te One from lobby group Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa said it was strange the bill made no provision for consulting children over things like the national priorities.
The Education Minister, Hekia Parata, said she was confident learners had had a chance to comment on the proposed changes.
Other submitters to the Education and Science Select Committtee including the Post Primary Teachers Association, the Educational Institute and the Principals Federation opposed plans to allow online schools.
They expressed concern about giving the government the power to set national education priorities.
The Educational Institute's president, Lynda Stuart, said the priorities were likely to become targets that would narrow the education offered by schools.
The president of the Principals Federation, Whetu Cormick, said the priorities needed to be guided by an over-arching vision for education that everybody agreed on.
The president of the Post Primary Teachers Association, Jack Boyle, said the Education Minister must consult with educators and children about the priorities.
He said aspects of the bill, such as the creation of online schools, would undermine quality education.
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