Sir Roger’s Bill Pulled From Ballot

ACT New Zealand MP Sir Roger Douglas was today pleased to have his Education (Board of Trustee Freedom) Amendment Bill pulled from the Ballot - his fourth Bill to be pulled this term.

"My Education (Board of Trustee Freedom) Amendment Bill would, if passed, enable Boards of Trustees to manage their own affairs by having full control over the employment of teachers at their school," Sir Roger said.

"At present, teachers’ salaries are set by the Ministry of Education with national pay scales being predominantly based on length of service – rather than on teachers’ ability or performance.

"Unfortunately, in the current system there is little scope for schools to recognise and reward high performing teachers with higher wages. As such, there is no wage-based performance incentive to encourage poorer performing teachers to improve. This simply isn’t fair.

"We fund low-decile schools at a much higher rate than high-decile schools, but then we prevent those schools from spending the money in the one place that would make a difference – decent teachers.

"It is a real shame that many people who would be excellent teachers are dissuaded from entering the profession because of lack of performance incentives. Teachers should be treated just like every single other public servant – performance should be the basis for pay.

"Rather than Ministry of Education bureaucrats dictating salaries from their offices in Wellington, ACT believes that the Board of Trustees at each school is in a far better position to determine who should be paid what, as they will know who the best teachers are and who is getting the best results," Sir Roger said.

ENDS

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