Opinion of New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA) President Robin Duff on charter schools and the selling off of education to private corporations. Published in the Dominion Post "Government passes the buck on charter schools".
Politicians have been systematically shifting responsibility for the wellbeing of citizens to unaccountable corporations
American president Harry Truman famously kept a plaque on his desk which said "the buck stops here". What would he make of the new breed of politicians who are hell-bent on making sure the buck never comes anywhere near them?
Over the last twenty years politicians have been systematically shucking off the responsibility to govern in the interests of the citizens who elected them by shifting that power to unelected, unaccountable corporations.
It began with Ronald Regan whose systematic removal of regulatory control over banks and financial institutions made the 2008 financial collapse inevitable. In New Zealand, the Reserve Bank Act empowered international currency speculators to set the value of the New Zealand dollar; great for them maybe but not so hot for New Zealand exporters. Ironically, politicians relinquished control of national financial affairs but retained the power to write cheques on the taxpayer to shore up losses generated by these rotten-to-the-core financial institutions.
And it’s not just in finance. Taxpayers and ratepayers are in the gun for over $1 billion for leaky homes because our political leaders decided building regulations were an unhelpful restriction on the industry. And that’s not counting the emotional cost leaky home owners have had to bear.
Conveniently avoiding the consequences of their failure to protect New Zealanders
Even worse is the sacrifice of lives at Pike River. Twenty years after abolishing the requirements for check inspection of mines, politicians have established a High Hazards Unit to oversee safety in mines and to distract attention from their shameful role in reducing accountability in the first place. The fact there is talk about suing the Labour Department (ie the taxpayer) when once a disaster like this would occasion the resignation of the minister responsible, shows just how successful politicians have been at insulating themselves from the consequences of their decisions.
Then there was the Rena running aground while sailing under a "flag of convenience," a device that allows international shipping companies to ignore local training and staffing requirements. Convenient for whom?
Charter schools experiment - shifting public responsibility for student wellbeing to benefit private interests
And now there are charter schools. Schools that are free of all those annoying regulations designed to ensure that students’ interests are protected. Charter schools don’t have to follow the New Zealand curriculum or use the New Zealand qualification system and even though politicians mandate attendance at school for all children between the ages of 5 and 16, parliament will have no right or duty to scrutinise the activities of these schools. The Official Information Act won't apply so it will be difficult for the media to enforce transparency and the other moderating influence on corrupt management practices in schools, unions, will be kept well clear. Yet, examples abound in USA, particularly in Florida, showing that the real beneficiaries of charter schools are not students but real estate agents and property developers.
Moreover, if the rumours about the secret Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement are true, future governments will face ruinous legal action from international corporates if they dare to try to reverse the experiment.
"Of the people for the people", but only if 'the people' are the ones making a buck
So much for national sovereign government. The role of the government ought to be to govern in the interests of all citizens of New Zealand but responsible government - “of the people by the people for the people” - seems a quaint old-fashioned notion to politicians of today.
Our constitutional monarchy is morphing into a constitutional parliament. Politicians like the pay, status, media attention and BMWs but don’t like the idea of being genuinely answerable to the people of New Zealand. Consider what will happen after our power companies are flicked off overseas and New Zealanders are subject to extortionate power prices and erratic supply. Politicians will be officially and happily powerless to do anything about it. All care and no responsibility.
There's another story about Harry Truman that sums up the new approach. Someone complained to his wife that he used the word "manure" when fertiliser would be more polite. She sighed and said you have no idea how long it has taken me to get him to say manure.
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