Nats push stupidest education plan ever
It’s not April 1st, so I’m forced to conclude that this is a genuine announcement: Students to learn online from home instead of at school under major education reform.
education
schools
All aboard the charter schools gravy train
Charter schools are pretty nice work if you can get it, no wonder groups are lining up. But there’s no evidence that they are good for education.
National standards – a failed crusade
National told us “New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and do maths when they left school.”
Postcard from the “brighter” future
Evidence of growing poverty hitting “mid-decile” schools.
Family First on the important issues of the day
Don’t conservative cranks have anything better to do with their time?
Charter schools paid ideology bonuses
Charter schools showered with even more money for missing their targets. Something to do with forests, apparently.
Good money after bad into the bottomless pit of charter schools
Yesterday the Nats confirmed the closing of a failed Northland charter school. Turns out we’ll be paying an extra $400,000 for the first quarter of this year, even though the school will not open. Brilliant.
The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
Education mess
Details of a mess in tertiary education published yesterday. On top of the mess in charter schools. National aren’t very good at this.
John Key’s hedge fund mate behind Teach First (NZ)
Julian Robertston, a US billionaire who made his money with hedge fund Tiger Management, Merryl Lynch’s largest customer when John Key was working there, is the man behind privatisation trojan horse Teach First (NZ).
NRT: Compare and contrast
I/S at No Right Turn compares the government’s treatment of two very different schools. “National’s racism and pandering to the rich pervades every aspect of policy.”
The education review
National is initiating a review of education. They will of course be excluding consideration of resourcing and their sacred cows (national standards, charter schools). One possible outcome appears to be shifting resources from poorer schools to richer ones.
More charter school hypocrisy
Turns out the Education Minister overrode Ministry advice to protect National’s pet charter schools from being evaluated on their actual outcomes. Plus a bonus side order of hypocrisy on class sizes.
Even Catherine Isaac thinks Parata has no idea
When Catherine Isaac (wife of Roger Kerr (deceased) of the former Business Round-table and ACT party stalwart) is at odds with Parata, something must be amiss.
Hekia has gone rogue
Hekia Parata has announced that student achievement and not need caused by poverty will be a central part of any future funding system.
A schools league table that we need
The Nats have created the (spurious) data for school “league tables” so that parents can be fully informed and make choices, so they tell us. But it seems that parents don’t deserve to be fully informed about the dangerous physical health of schools. That would be just too inconvenient.
Charter $chools
Today’s Herald has an excellent piece on charter schools – School cash flows to owners’ pockets. What a surprise!
Well he would wouldn’t he
Key denies claims that he said Maori language month would be boring. Whatever the phrasing it’s clear that he was insensitive and a 16-year-old girl has been upset. Key should just do the decent thing and apologise.
What’s a charter school gotta do?
What exactly does a charter school have to do in order to be held accountable?
More charter school fiascos
Charter schools continue to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Right-wingers continue to back them for all the wrong reasons.
School lunches – Key vs data
Key claimed that the number of hungry kids in schools was limited to “the odd one or two”. Everyone knew it was nonsense. Now a survey by the New Zealand Principals’ Federation indicates the true extent of the problem.
It’s great to be a charter school!
A charter school banks an “operating surplus” of $2.4 million, while state schools remain chronically underfunded.
Anti-union rant in The Herald
An anonymous editorial in The Herald this morning really is atrocious. Apparently the limited uptake one of the Nats’ pet education policies is all the fault of the unions.
National standards aren’t
Further evidence that “national standards” are an omnishambles.
Schools under pressure
Schools are not adequately funded for the job we ask them to do.
The education horse race
On the one hand the government are pushing for more and more NCEA passes to feed the league tables, and on the other they are acknowledging that those passes are no longer enough to suggest success at Tertiary level and tightening criteria to exclude students. Mixed messages, perverse incentives, a giant shambles.
Shame shame shame
Last night in Parliament National voted down Harawira / Turei’s Feed the Kids Bill, David Shearer’s Food in Schools Bill, and Phil Twyford’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill.
The Second Climate Change Problem
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence
Charter schools mess – what a surprise
One of National’s first five charter schools is a failure, and applications for new charter schools have been cancelled. Who could have predicted such a mess? Just about everybody…
Novopay cost us $45 million
It was announced yesterday that Novopay has cost the country $45 million more than intended. The Ministry of Education has accepted some responsibility but in terms of ultimate responsibility the Ministers involved, English, Parata and Foss should be held to blame.
Charter Schools: F
So despite the vast amount more funding (5x more per pupil) to charter schools, 1 of the 5 first, Te Kura Hourua ki Whangaruru, is failing abysmally.
The Government has previously said that all their problems were fixed, or being fixed – but they clearly aren’t.
Prove It
So John Key reckons the decile 1 & 2 principals he talks to say that hardly any kids at their school need lunch. Campbell Live & Kids Can seem to only find school principals who say that lots of kids need lunch. So maybe John Key can name these mythical decile 1 & 2 schools that are doing so well. And then when he gets shown up again, maybe National can move to support Hone’s Food in Schools Bill.
Local Bodies: Whale Oil and Tolley Attacked Principals and Myself
The stench of National’s dirty politics is reeking like decayed blubber. Today it appears that Anne Tolley appears to have used Cameron Slater to attack critics of their flawed education policies. The question is how much taxpayers funds did the ministers use on their vindictive support for the countries most despicable ‘blogger’?
NRT: Breach of contract
When National set up charter schools, they promised that they would be more accountable, and that contracts were a better means of enforcing standards than the usual school system. That works only if they’re enforced. NZ First has shown that at least one school is completely in violation of at least one part of their contract. So is the National government enforcing a contract? Yeah right….
Local Bodies: Novopay Exemplifies National’s Governance
This National led Government is strong on ideology, weak on process and reluctant to accept responsibility. The Novopay debacle exemplifies all of these well. When questioned about Novopay, National Ministers will never accept full responsibility. Stephen Joyce has just announced that the Government will be taking over the management of Novopay after almost two years of stress and wide-ranging issues. No matter what National and its Ministers claim, Novopay is largely their fault, and taking responsibility and making apologies are not what this Government does readily.
The education debate
Education has become a major election issue. And after Labour’s announcements at this weekend’s congress there is a stark divide, between the enrichment of the few or the advancement of the many.