Teachers revolt against National Standards that are really League Tables in disguise

Teachers told to boycott national standards
The Auckland Primary Principals' Association (APPA) is telling members to boycott training to implement national standards. APPA president Iain Taylor wrote to members that after "significant deliberation, APPA recommends that its members cease to attend any training around the implementation of the national standards". The organisation said the policy was too flawed to work.

Our top academics have damned National Standards, our Education Minister has lied about National Standards and now teachers aren't putting up with this farce any longer either.

And why aren't teachers putting up with this crap? Because these national standards have NOTHING to do with the educational betterment of NZ's children and has EVERYTHING to do with National implementing free market ideology into education. The standards will be used to create league tables, these league tables will create a false competition, which is what National have aimed for within education since day one.

Not one extra cent is being given to Schools to lift a child who is failing, they are only getting cash to 'measure' - why 'measure' if there isn't any money to help bring those measured who are failing?

This is NOT about the educational achievement of NZ children because national standards like this are pointless, they show nothing of any educational value because children develop at very different stages this early on in their educational life. How do we know this to be true? Because our undisputed educationalists like John Hattie bloody well tells us so!

Here is what he has said about National's failed experiment of free market ideology 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. And let's not forget Tolley lied about parental support for her league tables by stealth...

'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.

...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, ‘Parents support National Standards’ – no they didn’t only 14% did, 38% were negative.

Teachers have a responsibility to make sure educational policy is in the best interests of the students, these National Standards being forced upon schools with no extra money to help bring a child above a fail must be resisted because it is a sham attempt to inject false competition into the education system.

While National pump millions into their friends in the private education industry, they are setting up league tables by stealth in the public system, thankfully the teachers are willing to fight for public education.