ImperatorFish: Not Irony #2
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
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Over at Kiwiblog David Farrar writes:
The teacher unions insisted national standards should be trialled before implementation, yet are furiously against charter schools being trialled.
Are they worried the trial might be a raging success?
What are the problems with this analysis?
- The teachers unions don’t want National Standards at all. They don’t want a trial. But because they don’t much like the policy and think it will fail, they believe that a limited trial would have been a lesser evil than a full rollout.
- It’s entirely possible that opposition to charter schools is based on a dearth of evidence that they will lift the achievement levels of those most in need.
- Based on overseas evidence, which is mixed, it would take an incredible optimist to expect charter schools to be a “raging success”. It’s unlikely that such fears are behind teacher opposition.
- The charter school plan is also opposed by principals and school trustee groups. Not just the teacher unions.
Keep them coming, David. I’m not stalking you, honest.