Too political

Commentator Matthew Hooton has taken another swipe at teachers, presumably in part as a response to Education Aotearoa's article, 'Hooton hears a what'. He says in the National Business Review, "The union propagandists are more hardened, committed and talented than their counterparts in either the ministry or the Beehive.

We like 'talented and committed', but can't agree with 'hardened'. If anything, it's hard not to be too emotional about national standards. Like many other articles in the media, Hooton's article contains a number of errors of fact - it's heartbreaking really, when you think it's children's futures the grown ups are messing with.

I'm planning to add some sober statistics to the debate in the next EA story about the standards - with a few concrete facts and statistics that illustrate why the New Zealand primary education system is admired around the world, and therefore why educators are prepared to fight for it.

It's interesting to note that standard supporters are saying NZEI is both too close to Labour (The Listener - Trevor Mallard on the NZEI Bus Tour) and not close enough (Fran O'Sullivan on Radio New Zealand - Labour in Australia has enabled league tables to be published).

Progress won't be quick on this issue, but it's one worth digging in for the long haul.