Dom Post on PPTA
January 24th, 2011 at 9:46 am by David FarrarJust saw this editorial:
Those who read newspapers and magazines during the Christmas break – most of us, surely – will have seen a series of big Post-Primary Teachers Association advertisements. They said: “Around the world, the countries that believe in investing in education understand the central importance of teachers … Attracting great teachers for our children, and keeping them in New Zealand, costs money. How can the government … not make that investment?”
The PPTA is wasting their money. Well, not entirely. If their aim is to get a better pay deal for their members, the money is wasted. If the aim is to help Labour by painting National as anti-education, then they may feel it is a good investment.
PPTA members do not believe that an administration that has supported the Rugby World Cup, South Canterbury Finance, Warner Bros and hated private schools cannot afford to give them a 4 per cent pay rise. That they have had three successive rises of 4 per cent when many parents got nothing or lost their jobs seems to have happened in a parallel universe.
I wonder if they will keep their strike action going for all of 2011.
An irony of the PPTA’s advertising campaign is that, under Helen Clark’s Electoral Finance Act, the union would have had to think twice about mounting it. Third-party advertising was heavily proscribed throughout an entire election year.
That this highly political union can now advertise its distress about pay rates to the full extent of its members’ willingness to fund it until three months before polling day – without falling foul of an anti-free speech law – is thanks only to its enemy, the Key-led Government.
Very true.
Related posts:
- Dom Post flays PPTA
- Dom Post to PPTA
- PPTA to strike
- Plan for dealing with disruptive kids too late says PPTA
January 24th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Of course, it is still an anti-free speech law. It is bizarre that speech is limited at the time it matters most. Let PPTA have their say all day every day, every month and every year, however obnoxious and wrong they are. As National and Labour have long forgotten, free speech is the right to be offensive and to disagree.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:14 am
It’s like Tolley using her defence of AGS to bash the unions. You would have to be living in a hole to not know National’s modus operandi has been union bashing for the past 2 years. Perhaps the unions are hitting back?
Let the union bashers have their say all day every day, every month and every year, however obnoxious and wrong they are.
[DPF: Calling Tolley a union basher and painting the unions as merely hitting back, is akin to calling a wife who has been beaten up every day for two years and finally hits back, the assailant]
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:19 am
My thoughts on education funding are simple – in my view education is the single most important area of government spending. The government should pay as much as it can practically afford for education. However, I see no evidence that the best place for this funding is increasing teacher salaries. I would think that a greater number of teachers as well as better facilities are a much better use of funding.
Teachers deserve no pay increases until they can devise and agree with a scheme for measuring their own performance.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Why is education a political battle ground? It shouldn’t be and it’s disgraceful that Tolley sees it that way.
I don’t necessarily agree with the actions of the various education unions but with Tolley as the minister there is hardly a harmonious and open culture in which to discuss and debate education issues.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:52 am
I hope they keep up the strikes. They will end up pissing off parents who rely on kids being in school off their hands.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:52 am
@ ben my sentiments exactly. Shows how far we’ve sunk when being allowed to speak freely “up to 3 months before an election” is somehow seen as a good thing…
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 10:54 am
“Why is education a political battle ground? ”
Because highly politicised unionised teachers make it so. It’s pretty much the same world wide. Until the government has the cajones to smash the teacher unions, introduce proper performance evaluation and discipline and break the cosy education cartel it wont change.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Good on yah yeswedid, the PPTA would never make education a political battle ground would they. MUPPETT.
Vote:And here was simple old me thinking that most of the contretemps was all about the bloody nats implementing clearly defined pre election policy and on gaining office that the marvellous socialists had mortgaged the farm with payments at around 250 million a week.
Teachers are very necessary employees and the better ones would definitely be worth paying more to but if the PPTA wants a one size fits all and no measure of effectiveness or value then just accept that a payrise for all including the useless ones is not going to fly.
January 24th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Fairly predictable editorial from the Dom Post and naturally predictable responses from the users of this site. Some quick comments before I head off to Trentham:
Vote:(1) The PISA test results (organised by the OECD) of our 15 year olds released late last year showed how well our education system is performing, regardless of this government’s clear intent to continually attack it.
(2) If the secondary teachers were paid according to overall system results, they would be some of the highest paid in the world. Clearly, they are not.
(3) Education has always been a politcal battlefield in many Western countries. Unionised teaching has little to do with it. Finland, the usual top performer in the PISA tests, has a highly unionised teaching workforce but does not have the same battles. Their society values education (and teachers) much more highly and they have hardly changed their education system in the past 30 years or more. They just get on with focusing on quality teaching. They outlaw comparative performance rankings of school v school and almost all students go to state schools closest to where they live. This makes a mockery of almost all of what the Right advocates as “necessary” reforms of schooling, such as choice and accountability, etc. etc.
(4) Tolley has always bashed the unions and pays lip service to genuinely working with them. I can’t possibly accept DPF’s aside that she is the victim. It was her office staff that spent their time (and taxpayer money) contacting the media to bring to their attention the Facebook comment made by a principal that referred to “Minister Hitler”. In the same communication, they then said that “The Minister will not be gracing those comments with a response”. Kelvin Smythe’s website has an article on the e-mails, obtained under the Official Information Act.
(5) The irony over the reaction to the Auckland Grammar School move compared to the introduction of National Standards is intriguing. One state school (AGS) says it is being bold and making its own decision – so Tolley backs them. Other state school BoTs say they have concerns about NS and will continue to set their own student achievement targets – so Tolley attacks them!
(6) Finally, my summer reading has included Allan Peachey’s book, “What’s Up With Our Schools?”. I agree with a lot of what he says, but also strongly disagree with a lot else. What we lack in this country is the opportunity to discuss and debate education issues and I hope this changes this year. It would be good to create a platform to genuinely debate what we want to achieve with what is still clearly a world leading system. It may not be perfect – no-one is – but if we screw it up with hasty, ill-considered changes (such as NS) then we will be sorry.
(7) Great Peachey quote on p.94, talking about Labour’s changes to remove bulk funding for schools. He complained about the “brutal exercise of political power”. Labour’s changes were “rushed through” in months; NS took 7 days from the bill being introdcuded (Tues 9 Dec 2008) to it being signed by the Gov Gen (Tues 16 Dec 2008).
January 24th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
One of the good things about newson line is that one doesn’t get that propaganda.
Vote:Privatize more of the education system and reduce its reliance on Govt.
January 24th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Government should have no involvement in education.
The only suitable role for them is to help poorer people pay for education, not to provide it.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
There is an easy way to have higher quality teaching, pay teachers more, and not cost the taxpayer anything extra. Just have larger classes. Since fewer teachers would be needed, the worst performing ones would have the opportunity to contribute to our nation in a way that is more suited to their particular skills. You could even save some money on land and buildings.
Of course that would mean fewer union members …
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
More piffle from the PPTA. The education system should not be polliticized and until the teacher unions come to terms with this, there are always going to be arguements and standoffs over issues. A continuously elected Labour Government, which all unions crave, is not the cure. We will see over time how this current standoff is resolved, there is always an election at the end of the year for the public to cast their own opinion.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
If we were to stop government spending on social security, health, and education and instead simply give a cheque each year to the 1.5 million worst off kiwis, that cheque would be more than $30,000 per annum.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
What are the PPTA afraid of in having some Professional Standards – not PPTA Union doctrine.
Get real, this is the modern world where Professional bodies have standards, including performance of teachers !
I see that Police have a starting salary of $57,000 pa, upon graduation – but they have Professional standards, not just a union.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
“Why is education a political battle ground? It shouldn’t be and it’s disgraceful that Tolley sees it that way.”
Yes it is disgraceful that “Minister Hitler” Tolley (with Sarah Palin’s help) has created this whole situation. And that lovely PPTA union lady Katey Gainsford, look how sweet she is – butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
What are you talking about Paulus? Teachers do have professional standards.
They have to provide evidence that they have met the standards every time they renew their registration. This is additional to the yearly appraisal that they are required to do to move up to the next pay scale (it is another fallacy that people on this site believe that teachers automatically move up the pay scale).
Teachers cannot teach in New Zealand unless they are registered (new teachers are provisionally registered).
How about a bit of checking next time, instead of being so ignorant. Or is it a habit of yours to just make stuff up?
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Yep.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/questions-remain-over-sex-offender-allowed-teach-3682065
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10672818
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10653182
Course there are standards then there are standards!
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Until every NZ child leaves their EIGHT years of primary school able to read and write to the level needed for high school, then we cannot be happy about how our education dollar is spent.
Whether National Standards will help, I don’t know. But I do know that ANYTHING that could raise the achievement and expectations of our failing kids must be tried with all our might. We cannot tolerate the appalling human wastage that illiteracy causes.
Hats off to Anne Tolley who has stayed resolute in putting our children before the self-interest of unions intent on feathering the nests of their members. Just look back at every change or reform over the last 30 years. All opposed by the unions. All accused of making kids guinea pigs, being introduced too fast, no pilot schemes etc etc. Same old story every time. And our most defenceless kids keep on falling behind while the comfortable middle class play their power games.
I know our teachers work hard. Perhaps it is time they worked smarter. And stop paying for ads that are embarrassing in the ignorance they reveal.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Well Johnboy, of course there are going to be examples of teachers that have disagraced their profession. That happens in EVERY profession. With teachers any serious misconduct is made public with the Teachers Council publishing their decisions. Now I have no problems with this what so ever. Teachers have an important job to do (sadly not relected in their satus in this country, however) so such cases should be made public. [Although the media does seem to enjoy sensationalising every case, but that's the media and perhaps the publics fascination with sensationalism for you].
What I do have a problem with, Johnboy, is you using those examples to discredit the teaching profession. They are about 60000 teachers in New Zealand. So with your search thorough the internet you have come up with 0.005% of teachers. I wonder if there is any other profession that does so well.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
DPF: Calling Tolley a union basher and painting the unions as merely hitting back, is akin to calling a wife who has been beaten up every day for two years and finally hits back, the assailant.
Not a valid analogy, DPF. Tolley is the Minister of Education so she holds all the power. Include her bullying nature, and there is no way Tolley is in a victimised situation like a wife being beaten.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
It was a very brief search bc and obviously only selected a very small percentage of publicly identified criminals amongst teachers.
Vote:Hopefully national standards when they are fully operative will be able to indicate the huge percentage of utterly useless trash that are hiding away in the system disguised as teachers.
I take it you are one example by your vehement dislike of any form off accountability being applied to the teaching job, I won’t distinguish it with the term profession in the present state its in.
January 24th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Accelerated learning techniques have been around for decades. Some of them work spectacularly well. I used to ask teachers at parent/teacher meetings which of these techniques they use. Only ever had blank looks. Why is that I wonder? There doesn’t need to be any policy changes for schools or individual teachers to introduce some smart techniques. In fact, some of the techniques lend themselves to very large group sizes so could cut down on teacher numbers. (Example – teaching smart study and memory skills to students – teach the entire shool together in the assembly hall.)
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
BeaB: Until every NZ child leaves their EIGHT years of primary school able to read and write to the level needed for high school, then we cannot be happy about how our education dollar is spent.
What about intellectually handicapped children, BeaB. Do they have to be able to read and write to high school level? I have a neice that is intellectually handicapped. She is progressing slowly, but there is no way she will be able to read and write by the time she reaches high school.
You see the problem with absolutes, BeaB?
BeaB: Just look back at every change or reform over the last 30 years. All opposed by the unions.
Strange. I recall the unions being very supportive of NCEA (Thus their opposition to the stance being made by the principal of Auckland Grammer). I also don’t recall any opposition to AsTTle, the literacy and numeracy programmes, Ka Hikitia and other initiatives to improve outcomes of Maori in education. I also don’t recall any opposition to co-operative learning, differentiated learning, Habits of Mind, Bloom’s Taxonomy and other learning reforms.
Vote:All of these reforms and initiatives have added considerable workload to the job of being a teacher, and yet all supported by the union. How could this be, BeaB? Hardly fits in with your union bashing mantra does it?
January 24th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Uh thats niece bc.
You sure you are a teacher?
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Johnoy: It was a very brief search bc…
Ha ha, pathetic Johnoy. Even if you decided to do a larger earch and found 1000 more examples (which I suspect there wouldn’t be) you would still only be at 1.67% of all teachers. 98.33% of teachers not doing anything to put their profession in disrepute. Still pretty good odds don’t you think?
“I take it you are one example by your vehement dislike of any form off accountability being applied to the teaching job”.
Think again, Johnboy (or maybe start thinking).
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
It’s a typo, Johnboy. I guess you are so perfect, that you don’t have any of those.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
“Ha ha, pathetic Johnoy. Even if you decided to do a larger earch”
Well if you insist I will change my name and try a larger earch.
Have you considered “Remedial spelling for Teachers”?
If you start soon you should still keep your job when standards come in.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
No bc and I wouldn’t expect a one-legged kid to run as fast as one with two legs. But your niece should be able to read at what is considered achieveable for her age and ability. I assume that is what you want for her, no less.
Vote:Pretty feeble riposte.
The PPTA did oppose NCEA – just about every inch of the way. I don’t know where you were.
January 24th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Johnoy: “Hopefully national standards when they are fully operative will be able to indicate the huge percentage of utterly useless trash that are hiding away in the system disguised as teachers.”
Poor misguided, Johnoy. Well indoctrinated by Tolley I see. If there is a teacher that is “utterly useless trash” that National Standards will do NOTHING to identify that. That’s because meeting the standard is based on the judgement of the teacher!! Get it, Johnboy? That’s why assessments like AsTTle are considerably more valid than National Standards. Or do you still not get it?
And as for the “huge percentage” statement, well that’s just rubbish and you know it.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
BeaB, the PPTA did have concerns about NCEA when it came in – concerns that have been proven valid as it turns out. NCEA was rushed, just like National Standards and did have problems at the beginning.
Vote:But PPTA have always been supportive of the philosophy of NCEA. To say they opposed it “every inch of the way” is false.
January 24th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
No it’s not. That’s their usual trick – “we don’t oppose it, just the way it has been implemented”. Mealy mouthed crap.
And. like you, they will find the most tenuous reasons to support their argument.
The early concerns about NCEA were raised by teachers working with the actual assessments, moderation etc – and principals working in co-operation with the Ministry. These were all part of NZQA’s on-going development. No education reform springs into life fully formed and teachers have always been at the forefront of making changes work. The PPTA, on the other hand, has always used these very desirable professional modifications as political fodder.
I am not the only one to remember the days when the PPTA was a professional association led by principals and teachers, we had enormous influence on the Department of Education and secondary teachers were given huge pay increases with loads of lovely back pay.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
I hear what you say bc and suggest that we should privatise the whole education system and get all of you to reapply for your jobs under an entirely new contract that would stress regular checks for effectiveness as a teacher.
Those current “Teachers” who did not like the deal would obviously be free to pursue new careers elsewhere in the world (Africa’s crying out for dedicated teachers) and any shortfall could be made up by recruiting new people from overseas who were keen to accept a challenge and make a contribution to New Zealand.
Couldn’t be anymore disruptive than having all you bolshie moaners going on rolling strikes to make your feather beds even more comfy.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
I would love a totally private education system. I’d be awesome. I’m a teacher, BTW.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
The Com Post is aptly named. It must have slipped the editorial writer’s memory that MPs got a $4000 bonus just for eating their Xmas turkey. Nice if you can get it. To add insult, MPs will get another pay rise later this year…but alas there’s nothing in the pot for those good-for-nothing teachers. How dare teachers ask for successive pay rises but if you’re an MP, successive pay rises are de rigeur.
Anne Tolley is out of her depth. She still hasn’t apologised for her gaffe that the average teacher gets paid $70,000. That kind of arrogance is going to ensure this dispute won’t end any time soon.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4491698/MPs-get-4000-bonus-with-more-to-come
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Yes, Johnboy – teaching is such cruisy option. What with the holidays, buckets of pay, and nothing to do all day there much be thousands of people lining up to do the job – oh hang on, there isn’t.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
“there much be thousands of people lining up to do the job – oh hang on, there isn’t.”
Must be why they employed you bc even with your abysmal spelling.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
bc,
I think your answer is here:
Thursday, 9 September 2010, 9:33 am
Press Release: NZEI
OECD Report Highlights Teacher Pay Gap With Australia
The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says the pay gap with Australia is alive and well in education with a new report showing New Zealand teachers are still paid well below their Australian counterparts.
The OECD’s Education at a Glance report compares education systems between 29 OECD countries. It shows New Zealand primary teachers are among the lowest paid in the OECD and that applies from beginning teachers through to those with 15 years experience.
After 15 years experience a New Zealand teacher will earn $15,000-$20,000 less than the OECD average and well behind Australian teachers at the same level.
NZEI President Frances Nelson says “if the government is serious about closing the pay gap and ensuring our teachers stay in New Zealand, those figures cannot be ignored. John Key talks about building a successful economy but you can’t do that without proper investment in education.”
The report also shows that New Zealand teachers work harder for less pay. It says when it comes to teaching hours New Zealand teachers are second only to teachers in the United States. They put in 985 teaching hours a year – well above the OECD average of 786 hours and ahead of the 873 hours a year of Australian teachers.
“New Zealand has a world class education system which depends on the quality and commitment of its teachers. We need to make teaching as attractive as possible so our teachers feel valued and have their skills recognised. They need a reason to believe that the grass is always greener at home,” says Ms Nelson.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Very true, ross. Although I disagree with the use of your word “gaffe”. A gaffe is an unintentional remark, whereas Anne Tolley was deliberately trying to provoke an angry reaction. When the top of the scale salary is under $70000 it thankfully didn’t take long for the media to realise that Tolley was telling outright lies. Not a first for her of course, but it was good that she got pulled up for it.
I can’t recall when we have had a Minister is not only is incompotent – her ignorance of her portfolio is mind boggling – but has managed to alienate everyone that she has to work with, even her own officials!! It would be amusing, if it didn’t have the potential to be so damaging to this country.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Well Johnboy, if that is all you can come up with, it pretty much shows that your arguments are dead in the water.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
“I can’t recall when we have had a Minister is not only is incompotent ”
Perhaps Aussie teachers can spell and construct a logical sentence so they get paid more?
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Yes, Johnboy I make silly typos. I admit that I am a terrible typist (two finger job!).
I think it is pretty obvious I meant the word “must” instead of “much”. To call that a spelling mistake is being deliberately provocative and misleading. I note you can’t seem to be able to counter my points any other way than point out my typos. Is that it, or have you got anything credible to say?
I thought so.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Read my 5.31 bc.
You are an oaf.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Watched the movie “Waiting for Superman” the other day – its about the US public education system and the stranglehold that the teachers’ unions there have over any change, as well as how independent and non-unionised schools are making a real change to the lives of inner-city kids.
Worth a look – the best scene imho was the one where a teacher’s union would not even allow a vote on a system of merit-based pay that would have potentially doubled salaries – because it also meant that incompetent teachers could have been fired for non-performance.
The clear message is that all the money in the world will make no difference to outcomes as long as a unionised work-force resists accountability for performance.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Time we privatised the lot in good old Godzone Sean.
The government has as much need to own the education system as it has the need to own a television station.
You only need either of them if you have a penchant to control the way that people think and we all know what kind of governments think along those lines.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Ah yes Johnboy, name-calling. Always a sign that you have lost the argument.
You must be a lot of fun to be around. Now I’m off to enjoy the evening. Have fun pointing out other peoples so-called spelling mistakes.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
I thought buggering off citing a weak excuse is a more typical sign of losing an argument but then I am not a teacher so maybe I’m wrong.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
The teachers must be a bit under stress at present. Only another week more holiday until they actually have to work again.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
just a comment to this myth that payrises are not automatic and they have to pass standards etc.
I used to do teachers payroll and payrises based on 1 year service levels may as well have been automated.
it happened the very first pay period after they hit their service level every time. they would check their service level with me, and the principal would authorise it.
the one time a school declined a step increase the teacher rang and abused me, the union rep rang and abused me. i told them it was the schools decision. one day later the principal authorises the payrise.. when i asked what had changed he told me it was not worth fighting the union, no matter how crap she was. all he could do is limit her to where she could not ruin too many kids.
I also recall plenty of teachers who had a note on their file to state that the head of MOE had to approve them being hired due to how bad they were and they were all hired at new schools, usually with union assistance.
Never assume that their ‘standards’ are anything more than a smokescreen. the good teachers don;t need the crappy standards to show it, and the crap ones just use the union to override it.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
We all know that most of the useless creeps are unionised lackeys that couldn’t teach shit. That’s why they teach instead of doing but for some reason they assume that if they bleat for long enough they will convince us they are the good guys and Tolley is the dunce.
It isn’t working.
John Key do something great that you will go down in history for.
Privatise education now.
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
And the antidote to Waiting for Superman is The Myth of Charter Schools
Some fact-checking is in order, and the place to start is with the film’s quiet acknowledgment that only one in five charter schools is able to get the “amazing results” that it celebrates. Nothing more is said about this astonishing statistic.
The propagandistic nature of Waiting for “Superman” is revealed by Guggenheim’s complete indifference to the wide variation among charter schools. There are excellent charter schools, just as there are excellent public schools. Why did he not also inquire into the charter chains that are mired in unsavory real estate deals, or take his camera to the charters where most students are getting lower scores than those in the neighborhood public schools? Why did he not report on the charter principals who have been indicted for embezzlement, or the charters that blur the line between church and state? Why did he not look into the charter schools whose leaders are paid $300,000–$400,000 a year to oversee small numbers of schools and students
Vote:January 24th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
So Tolley is a liar? Guilty of a gaffe? Check out the stats from the MoE website below which confirms that average salary plus allowances is OVER $71,000.
Overall average pay increases, 2000-2010
Between March 2000 and March 2010, overall average teacher pay (salary plus allowances) in state and state integrated schools increased as follows.
Secondary teachers’ average pay increased 45.4%, from $47,764 to $71,110.
Vote:Primary teachers’ overall pay increased 52.2%, from $42,228 to $66,951.
Area school teachers’ overall pay increased 50.9%, from $45,936 to $68,535.
The overall average increase was 49.6%, from $44,524 to $68,767.
January 24th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Joe90, thanks for pointing out the Diane Ravitch review of the Superman movie. Sean, don’t you realise that it’s the morbid fascination with performance data / accountability / choice etc. that has driven the US education system into the ground? Diane Ravtich’s book is an excellent read if you really want to understand how it has destroyed American public eduaction. It is precisely this sort of nonsense that we do not want to see in NZ.
Johnboy, I know you love private schools but there is no single example – anywhere in the world – of a privatised education system that genuinely seeks to educate EVERY child – no matter how poor or disadvantaged. The 2025 Taskforce also falls into this trap and advocates an increase in the proportion of students going to private schhols. They “compare” NZ, where approx. 4% of students go to private schools, with the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Of course, they throw in Roger Kerr’s beloved Sweden as well, for good measure. Unfortunately, they don’t also compare student achievement outcomes. The 2009 PISA Reading results had NZ in 7th place, Netherlands 11th, Belgium 21st, Denmark 26th and good old Sweden in a shocking 29th!! Why on earth do otherwise intelligent people write such drivel when it comes to education!!
Vote:January 25th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
bigjeanie – excellent work, I notice the introduction of facts has silenced the wailing from those ill-informed numb-skulls (ross and bc).
Vote:January 25th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
Sean
What about the famous rubber room in the NYC School District where hundreds of incompetent and sometimes outright unsafe teachers were housed sometimes for up to 3 years ON FULL PAY AND BENEFITS to read the paper and sleep whilst they awaited disciplinary hearings that mostly meant they weren’t fired maybe reassigned. Total cost to the long suffering taxpayers of NYC for this collective deadwood – $150million!
Joe90 – nobody is saying that charter schools are the perfect solution. “Waiting for Superman” highlighted shocking union backed excesses that are egregious regardless of whether some charter schools underperform. The tactics of the teachers unions in Washington DC blocking the ability of teachers to even VOTE on a merit based pay plan really sums up the teacher’s unions mentality in a nutshell – anything that threatens their tenure and smacks of merit based pay is to be blocked no matter how well thought out and planned.
Vote: