Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Special character shools under threat
New Zealand’s special character schools are under huge threat. The Minister of Education wants to take them back over and put them under central control.
The Ministry of Education recently – and very quietly – released a discussion document An Education with a Special Character: A Public Discussion Paper on the Consolidation of the Private Schools Integration Act 1975 into the Education Act. Submissions on the paper have already closed.
In brief, the Minister wants to disembowel the Private Schools Integration Act. Arguing that “elements that were originally included in the Act to safeguard the special character of integrated schools from a possibly unsympathetic central bureaucracy seem unnecessary now�, the paper proposes that the Minister be given power to reorganise and close integrated schools, something he cannot currently do. With over 300 integrated schools in the country, some 600,000 parents, employees, pupils and interested parties ought to be very worried. If the proposal turns to reality more anguish is on its way.
The demise of the Integration Act would be a terrible blow. At its heart it recognises that there is a case for justice in education—that parents who already pay taxes to the state for their children’s schooling should not be expected to pay again to send their children to schools of special character.
The Integration Act recognises parental preferences in education. It honours their decisions, and the investment they have made through taxes. In an otherwise heavily regulated sector, this is truly remarkable. If the Private Schools Integration Act 1975 goes, many parents will lose the freedoms they enjoy in education as integrated schools are reorganised and closed. In a merger, an integrated school will simply lose its special character.
The fuss over school closures and the pending fuss over the Integration Act’s burial highlight a growing trend in Wellington: a passion for centralised power. A new aristocracy with separate bloated ministerial fiefdoms is emerging. Local communities and parents are being ignored by ‘kings’ in their ‘palaces’ who tax and then ‘govern’ from afar. Parents, school boards, principals, teachers and their wishes are not rated.
New Zealand’s special character schools are under huge threat. The Minister of Education wants to take them back over and put them under central control.
The Ministry of Education recently – and very quietly – released a discussion document An Education with a Special Character: A Public Discussion Paper on the Consolidation of the Private Schools Integration Act 1975 into the Education Act. Submissions on the paper have already closed.
In brief, the Minister wants to disembowel the Private Schools Integration Act. Arguing that “elements that were originally included in the Act to safeguard the special character of integrated schools from a possibly unsympathetic central bureaucracy seem unnecessary now�, the paper proposes that the Minister be given power to reorganise and close integrated schools, something he cannot currently do. With over 300 integrated schools in the country, some 600,000 parents, employees, pupils and interested parties ought to be very worried. If the proposal turns to reality more anguish is on its way.
The demise of the Integration Act would be a terrible blow. At its heart it recognises that there is a case for justice in education—that parents who already pay taxes to the state for their children’s schooling should not be expected to pay again to send their children to schools of special character.
The Integration Act recognises parental preferences in education. It honours their decisions, and the investment they have made through taxes. In an otherwise heavily regulated sector, this is truly remarkable. If the Private Schools Integration Act 1975 goes, many parents will lose the freedoms they enjoy in education as integrated schools are reorganised and closed. In a merger, an integrated school will simply lose its special character.
The fuss over school closures and the pending fuss over the Integration Act’s burial highlight a growing trend in Wellington: a passion for centralised power. A new aristocracy with separate bloated ministerial fiefdoms is emerging. Local communities and parents are being ignored by ‘kings’ in their ‘palaces’ who tax and then ‘govern’ from afar. Parents, school boards, principals, teachers and their wishes are not rated.
