Education Forum Update, 30 September 2003

Education Forum Update, 30 September 2003

Welcome to the Education Forum Update, a regular round-up of all that is new at the Education Forum Website.

Visit our home page (http://www.educationforum.org.nz) for links to the following recently-added items:

Hot topic: The literature on school choice is increasing regularly and substantially, and the news is good. We bring you the latest in school choice news, research and information. We also update our hot topic on student loans following the release earlier this month of the government's discussion paper.

Press releases: This month the Education Forum argues that:

* the National Party has, in its education policy document, recognised many of the issues that face families when they send their children to school: its theme - parental choice - must be the touchstone of any real change to schooling;

* the government's student support review consultation document, while not providing many clues as to the policy road ahead, does provide a useful basis for consultation;

* the Independent Schools of New Zealand (ISNZ) report advocating funding all schools - irrespective of who owns them - at the same per-student level, is a strong pointer for successful policy in the future;

* New Zealand should emulate the school reform policy trail being blazed by the People's Republic of China with its law giving private schools equal status with state-owned schools.

OpEds: Issue 46, Top-up tales: opposition to tuition fees in Britain is misguided; the New Zealand experience shows that they work, writes Norman LaRocque. Issue 45, Good teachers deserve to be top of class: a puzzling part of the education debate in New Zealand is why unions, which supposedly represent teachers' interests, oppose measures which would see good teachers paid more, writes Roger Kerr.

The latest in education news: links to overseas and domestic stories, including: National's education ideas; class size debate overrated; a money management firm whose sole client is Florida's public employee pension fund is the primary bidder to buy out for-profit Edison Schools Inc; British Labour's reforms will make universities better and fairer; ministers and academics from more than 30 European countries meet to discuss the future of higher education.

And don't forget that the September edition of Subtext (our in-depth newsletter for education policy news and critiques) can be read online.

ENDS

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