Exclusive Brethren Will Test Govt Priorities
The Exclusive Brethren have removed their children from the state system so that they can provide an educational environment that supports their religious beliefs. They have 24 sites, or satellite schools, that operate under one school administration (Westmount School) that already receives $2.9 million of Government funding. The Decile 8 school has applied to be fully integrated at an estimated cost of an extra $7 million (or around $4,300) per student.
The Exclusive Brethren have been accused of operating as a cult and many members who have left the church have cited, bullying treatment. The story of the Brethren's treatment of gay journalist Craig Hoyle is especially shocking. The Exclusive Brethren have also had a long connection with the National Party and their privately produced election pamphlet in support of the Party for the 2005 election was mentioned in Nicky Hager's The Hollow Men. The Pamphlet was highly critical of Labour and the Greens and made a number of wild accusations that could not have been made in official material from National itself.
While the Exclusive Brethren claim that support for them is no different from the integration of Catholic schools, this isn't actually true. Some years ago in London I taught in a Catholic School (despite being an agnostic) and found their religious instruction taught tolerance of other religions and they even accepted students who had other cultural and religious backgrounds.
The Government have already provided support for the elite Wanganui Collegiate by bailing out the 400 student school by $3.9 million and committing to $3 million a year of ongoing funding. This was against the advice of the Ministry of Education and ignored the available space in the local public secondary schools. While the Government recently announced $27 million of new funding will go to those children who are 'priority learners' we must also remember the $35 million of extra funding that they gave to private schools shortly after coming to power. Given that private schools cater for only 4% of the student population they already get a fair whack of Government support.
Both the PPTA and New Zealand Educational Institute have come out strongly against supporting the sect as the $7 million would be more usefully spent elsewhere. I'm sure Christchurch communities will also be watching the decision with interest. How the Government responds to the request from the Exclusive Brethren will be a real test of priorities, does it really support struggling learners or is it more interested in propping up schools for the wealthy and rewarding coalition partners (Charter Schools) and past supporters?
Comments
You may question Catholic Schools and their religious teaching but in my experience they do teach about other religions and encourage tolerance of other beliefs. In the school that I was associated with, we even visited a Mosque and a Synogogue.
The Exclusive Brethren are unlikely to accept others outside their faith into their schools and as far as I know they do not include a broader view of world religions in their teaching. I would even have concerns about how well they would teach the National Curriculum.
I have never even implied that National was responsible for the integration of Catholic Schools.
I have never claimed that Charter Schools will only benefit the rich, my main criticism of them is the lack of evidence on their merits in a New Zealand context and the lack of safeguards around their operations and staffing. Educational change should be based on evidence, not the ideological view of a party that only achieved 1% of public support.
There is little equity in shown in educational decisions, the 4% of students who attend private schools have captured a far greater share of public funds than can be reasonably supported. The Governments claim that raising achievement for disadvantaged Maori and Pacifika children is their main priority is only words as it has been never been supported by a financial commitment. This isn't about envy it's about fairness. Why should 25% of students sitting NCEA,at John Key's son's private school get special needs support when schools with much greater needs get a fraction of that support?
Why should public money be used to ensure those who are attending private schools have far better pupil teacher ratios? Private schools can also remove students whose behaviour and learning creates greater demands on resources while public schools are often forced to take on high needs students with minimal support. Many Charter Schools in the US have boosted their results by removing those children who brought down their collective results.
Again you misrepresent me, you will never be able to find a quote where I have stated that Unionised teachers are better than others. I have said that qualified and registered teachers are more likely to be better than unqualified ones. No one would feel comfortable with being treated by an unqualified doctor and why should the teaching profession be regarded differently? Also Charter Schools are exempt from the OIA and yet in the US there have been lots of examples of poor professional and financial management.
You seem to be determined that education should be lottery and support a culture that will create winner and loser schools. In the research on societies where there is great disparities there are social and economic costs from supporting those who have fallen through the gaps and you seem happy to allow those gaps to widen.