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Thursday, January 28, 2010

National can't raise minimum wage but can blow $26 million on propaganda


$26m to win over parents on tests
Education Minister Anne Tolley will spearhead a $26 million charm offensive to ease the introduction of national standards in primary and intermediate schools next week. She will face a hostile reception as she tours the country, with at least 80 schools vowing to break the law and boycott the policy.

Unbelievable - the Government don't have money to raise the minimum wage to keep up with real costs, they don't have enough money to fund adult education BUT THEY DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to blow $26million on a propaganda campaign to win over the public to these bullshit competition by stealth league national standards tables which have been slated by the undisputed education expert, John Hattie (I’m interested to see how the anonymous right wing on-line mafia try to denigrate Hattie). Here is what he has said about National's failed experiment of free market ideaology in education:

Could be the most disastrous education policy ever formulated.

Will only barely raise student achievement, if at all.

Could "pervert the nature of teaching" by pitting schools and teachers against one another.

Hattie also writes that the standards themselves – the targets students will be measured against – are "untested and experimental" and need to be drawn up based on evidence, not committees.


Hmmmm, “Could be the most disastrous education policy ever formulated”, see even if I was a humper for National, surely those kind of warnings could get through and make an impact. These bullshit National Standards league tables are set up specifically to create a false competition that those on the bottom already see will hurt them...

National standards 'could make poor schools look bad'
Principals are worried that primary schools in poor areas will be made to look bad when national standards in reading, writing and maths are introduced next week. All schools will have to test pupils against the standards from Year 1 to Year 8, the last year of intermediate school. They will also have to report to parents on each child's progress twice a year and send results for all their pupils to the Ministry of Education by 2012.

...in Parliament Anne Tolley attempted to defend this abortion of education policy by claiming that parents supported her plan, that is a bare faced lie…

'Three Rs' plan alarms parents
AN OFFICIAL report reveals one-third of parents had concerns about the new national school standards system before it was launched – despite the government's claims the system has a "strong mandate" from parents.

Folks why is the minister of education so uneducated? These league tables National have been trying to smuggle in under the national standards regime have been sold to NZ as having the support of parents yet an official report released shows that 38% of parents made negative comments about National’s plans and only 14% made positive comments. Yet Education Minister Anne Tolley’s press release on the report read, ‘Patents support National Standards’ – no they didn’t only 14% did, 38% were negative.

National are pretending there is support for their national standards because their secret motive for league tables to create false competition is an education reform they know they can’t be upfront about.

The National Standards are a League table in disguise to create false competition within Education, and to forward these ideological goals, National are risking the education standards of the every child throughout the country.

If Labour had pulled a stunt like this, the NZ Herald editorial staff would be firebombing Government buildings.

8 Comments:

At 28/1/10 8:09 am, Blogger CHRIS said...

(I’m interested to see how the anonymous right wing on-line mafia try to denigrate Hattie). You have answered your own question as the removal of tertiary education from the national standards bearer says it all!

 
At 28/1/10 8:30 am, Anonymous Gymbaroo said...

Excuse me Bomber but how is the minimum wage linked with Government spending?

 
At 28/1/10 9:00 am, Blogger Bomber said...

Thank you for your question Gym - the argument used by the Government not to raise the minimum wage is because the country can't afford it and businesses will lay off workers, yet the Government CAN afford a bullshit $26million propaganda campaign to promote a competition by stealth national standards in education that has been attacked by all educators in this country.

 
At 28/1/10 9:34 am, Blogger Edward said...

Good post Bomber. It seems to me this national standard is just more populist bs being rushed through while ignoring the teachers, education boards, and academics who all call for, at the very least, caution and a trial period. Every time I hear 'National' and 'education' used in the same sentence I cringe - like public money towards private schools, or the utter gutting of tertiary education funding.

 
At 28/1/10 11:05 am, Blogger Cameron Campbell said...

I wonder, can one, as a parent, inform your school that your child will not be taking part in these tests?

 
At 29/1/10 8:29 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What exactly do you mean by "false competition"?

I can see how it would create more competition (there's already plenty if you hadn't noticed), but how would it be false?

@ Cameron: I'd be surprised if you could prevent you child from taking part in the test short of finding out what day the tests are on and keeping them home, but why bother? It wouldn't effect the overall result at all and sooner or later your kid will find out that he/she is better than other kids at some things and worse at others.

 
At 29/1/10 9:00 am, Blogger Bomber said...

anon you are a moron and here is why you are a moron - I say false competition because this has NEVER been about educational achievement of children it has always been about a league table by stealth you idiot.

The educational experts have attacked it, there is no point in trying to measure the educational achievements of children this young and if you had any idea of what you were talking about you would know this.

But you clearly don't.

 
At 29/1/10 9:01 am, Blogger Bomber said...

Was that too harsh? No, no it wasn't was it folks - why some dickhead anonymous troll thinks he/she knows better than John Hattie annoys me.

 

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