Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Dunne a 'Quisling' on Charter Schools


PRESS RELEASE
for immediate release
Libertarianz Party
Education

Dunne a 'Quisling' on Charter Schools

Libertarianz Party leader Richard McGrath came out all guns blazing at United Future leader Peter Dunne's dramatic about-face on charter schools, labelling him "the Teachers Council's tame poodle".

"When the issue of charter schools arose, our party was immediately supportive of allowing competition in education and challenging the stranglehold by teachers' unions over what choices are available to parents and their children."

"Our party remains firmly in favour of giving parents and children the right to decide how they are educated. Peter Dunne's backsliding, gutless treachery and total surrender to the teachers' unions is typical of his party's unprincipled populist stand on important issues."

"He is clearly more interested in keeping in with the NZEI and other voting blocs than in letting New Zealanders choose a style of teaching for their children that is remotely at variance with the one-size-fits-all teacher-centric state education system."

"Peter Dunne, you are now owned by the teachers union - I hope you are proud of your abandonment of those children doomed to failure in the current politically correct, inflexible and increasingly useless network of detention centres for the young."

"There are some wonderful teachers out there who could do achieve so much good working in schools specialised to the needs of their pupils. Unfortunately, such teachers are constrained by the rules of their protectionist trade unions and training bodies who are terrified of losing their tightly-held monopoly on teacher qualifications and jobs along with the billions of dollars of taxpayer funding thrown at public education."

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"Teacher qualifications are a smokescreen being utilised by universities, NZEI and PPTA to disguise an undignified grab for money and power that Dunne is now aiding and abetting."

"If charter schools are so bad, why not give them a limited trial for a year or two in order to to demonstrate just how terrible they are? The education establishment is fearful of any competition and clearly view the prospect of charter schools with considerable alarm, as their own deficiencies are likely to be exposed to public scrutiny."

"Peter Dunne appears to forget that in a free education market, bad and incompetent teachers and school are more likely to be ruthlessly and rapidly weeded out, as pupils and parents can more easily vote with their feet and take their education funding elsewhere if they are unhappy with a particular school."

"The bottom line is not what letters a teacher has after his or her name, but whether he or she can engage with pupils and keep them keen to learn and hungry for knowledge. Such skills aren't learnt at teacher training colleges and universities. And having a politically driven national curriculum which propagates, for instance, the nonsense of anthropogenic global warming - the fallacy that humans play a significant role in climate change and that economic sanctions should be enforced to address human production of greenhouse gases - is so wrong as to be bordering on criminal."

"It is imperative that the education market be opened up in every way; that children cease to be political pawns; and that power and funding be wrested away from teacher unions and training colleges and placed back where it belongs, in the hands of education consumers."

ENDS


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.