INDEPENDENT NEWS

Teacher Unions Making It Up As They Go - Brash

Published: Tue 23 Aug 2011 11:50 AM
Teacher Unions Making It Up As They Go - Brash
ACT Leader Don Brash today accused both the Post-Primary Teachers' Association and the New Zealand Education Institute of fabricating the truth about ACT's education policy in order to protect their special interests.
_In response to ACT's education policy, NZEI claimed that 'performance based systems don't work anywhere else in the world, is fraught with problems and does nothing to enhance a quality education system. The PPTA claimed that ACT's policy 'has failed in almost every country it's been implemented or attempted to be implemented in'._
"False statements such as these are not surprising when you consider that the NZEI and the PPTA are organisations funded by teachers to protect their best interests and not the best interests of students," Dr Brash said.
"If ACT's education policy is such a failure why is the Australian Labor Government moving to introduce performance bonuses for teachers from 2012, why do Singapore and Finland - who have some of the best education outcomes in the OECD - both have forms of performance based pay, and why did President Obama recommend performance based pay shortly after he became President?
"While the unions may complain, the reality is we are losing too many good teachers to management roles that take them away from the classroom as this is the only way they can get a higher wage. Meanwhile 20 per cent of children in New Zealand leave school unable to read or write. This has to stop.
"Education is the key to higher wages, better job prospects and a successful economy. The best teachers should remain in the classroom where they are needed most, so it's only logical that we should be able to pay them more to keep them there. The teachers' unions can attempt to protect their own interests all they like, but ACT will continue to fight for the interests of students and parents," Dr Brash said.
ENDS
Authorised by Garry Mallett, 809 River Rd, Hamilton.

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