'Education Matters': Choice A Step Closer
Tuesday 24 Feb 2004 Deborah Coddington Press Releases -- Education
ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington today welcomed Mark Harrison's book `Education Matters:
Government, Markets and New Zealand Schools', labelling it another voice in the call for a comprehensive overhaul of New
Zealand's failing education system.
"It takes a fair-minded and balanced approach to assessing whether the current system is providing the quality
education that Kiwi parents - and their children - deserve," Miss Coddington said.
"This book advocates greater parental choice, and says the State should support that choice with funding that follows
the child. By giving more choice to low-income families, we will improve eduction standards across the board. Under
Labour's centralised, one-size-fit-all education system, too many of our children are slipping through the cracks.
"The recent launches of my book: `Let Parent's Choose', National's education document, the Independent Schools' school
funding paper from, Maxim's `Vying For Our Children,' Education Forum's `A New Deal,' and now `Education Matters' shows
there is a strong, and unified, movement calling for a reform of our education system.
"Education Minister Trevor Mallard must discard his ideological bias against parental choice, and embrace reforms that
will produce better outcomes for children - we must reject Labour's backward education policies, and apply some
fresh-thinking," Miss Coddington said.
ENDS
For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at
act@parliament.govt.nz.