Posted by: PPTAweb
on 22, May, 2013
Tagged in:
Teachers Council ,
Teacher registration ,
student achievement ,
public education ,
privatisation ,
New Zealand model of charter schools ,
National Party Education Policy ,
minister of education ,
John Banks ,
education politics ,
education amendment bill ,
ACT Party
John Banks "World Class Business Opportunity" got a step closer last week, with the second reading of the Education Amendment Bill - the legislation that sets up charter (aka partnership) schools.
Turn the captions on if you watch his speech - in fact the captions are probably a pretty close match to our Associate Minister of Education, John Banks, understanding of the education environment in New Zealand. Although I do suspect the devil might have turned some of his words into "america" and "cash".
John says that charter school 'teachers' will have to be "trained and qualified in their field".
But teaching doesn't seem to be one of the "fields" he is referring to.
"Unregistered does not mean untrained" said John Banks.
He goes on that in "certain limited circumstances" these 'teachers' may be "teachers who are not registered with the teachers' union". (Now you know why there is a review of the Teachers Council. John Banks, can't recall who does what (or why) in education.)
Posted by: Tom Haig
on 27, Mar, 2013
Tagged in:
stupidity ,
public education ,
privatisation ,
power ,
education politics ,
contracting ,
confusion ,
computing ,
charters ,
charter schools;school failure ,
charter schools ,
Charter school working group ,
change ,
ACT Party ,
ACT
So the billionaire worshippers at Forbes Magazine * have got their eyes on the massive opportunities for profit promised by the privatisation of public education.
Naveen Jain’s article is so full of absurd assertions, greed- masquerading as idealism and fundamental misunderstandings that it is hard to know where to begin.
Posted by: Tom Haig
on 10, Nov, 2012
Tagged in:
secondary schools ,
public education ,
private schools ,
National Party Education Policy ,
Maori achievement ,
Hekia Parata ,
funding ,
Fees ,
equity ,
education spending ,
education politics ,
education policy ,
education
So a day after announcing the closure of two residential special schools, Parata announces the government is going to be giving $3 million a year to Wanganui Collegiate.
Collegiate is a decile 10 school, which according to the 2011 ERO report had no Pasifika students and 11% Maori.
The same ERO report praised its ‘relatively small class sizes’ which enabled teachers to know their students well, and commented on the ‘success rates considerably above national comparison levels.’ Yep, well that’s what a top private school is supposed to do, right?
Parata and Longstone have been berating schools and teachers to raise the achievement of Maori, Pasifika, special needs and students from low-socio-economic status families - these are supposed to be the priority learners that are the Minister’s ‘unrelenting’ focus.
Posted by: Michael James Stevenson
on 26, Sep, 2012
A review of the 25 September 2012 Mike Feinberg seminar at Victoria University Law School
If you enjoy eating a bowl of cold sick for breakfast, you should attend one of Mike Feinberg's two remaining New Zealand seminars about his U.S based charter schools franchise KIPP (Knowledge is Power).
I was surprised when an e-mail from Victoria University arrived inviting me to a lecture by Mr Feinberg, as these slots are normally reserved for experts or academics to speak on a particular topic. In this case, the ACT lobby seems to have broken through the University's peer review process and managed to get a snake oil salesman from America on stage. Despite a myriad of international research on charter schools and an April 2012 research report by twelve academics at Massey University, none were invited to speak.
Posted by: PPTAweb
on 03, Aug, 2012
Tagged in:
teaching ,
teachers ,
teacher training ,
quality ,
qualifications ,
public education ,
politics ,
Destiny Church ,
charter schools ,
Charter school working group ,
Catherine Isaac ,
ACT Party ,
ACT
1. That choice and flexibility in how schools are run is what kids need to learn.
2. That mud and water are what boys need to learn.
3. That the retired maths professor across the road wants to come and teach as a volunteer at his local school.
4. That charter schools will have fabulous architecture.
5. That teacher aides write fabulous lesson plans.
6. That the govt wants quality teaching and well qualified teachers but teaching, according to our govt, is not a profession that requires standards, competency, ethics, registration.
7. That children do not need qualified registered teachers to support their learning.
8. That Deborah Coddington, via twitter, described herself as an unfit parent. This, of course, was just time out from criticising registered teachers.
9. That evangelicals, meditation experts, Maxim, rich Americans, and the business roundtable are amongst those looking forward to saving NZ children from the ills of a secular well-rounded well-regarded public education system.
10. That as I write this the list keeps growing .... add your own
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