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Updated 15/07/08




School Choice: The Three Essential Elements and Several Policy Options



Contracting for the Delivery of Education Services



Parental Choice as an Education Reform Catalyst: Global Lessons



Welcome to the Campus of Struggle



Education Matters: Government, Markets and New Zealand Schools by Mark Harrison



A New Deal: Making Education Work for All New Zealanders by the Education Forum



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Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 77, 30 November 2009. In Subtext this month: Less publicly funded education to help government coffers, says Treasury; Retail fund launched to invest in New Zealand's first PPP investment fund; Increased fees needed to improve university quality, British Labour gov argues; Education about markets looks a good investment for Dilworth; High achievers from low-decile schools get business-backed scholarships; Businesses rally behind Asia awareness in schools.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 76, 29 October 2009. In Subtext this month: Bulk funding to make a return?; Five new trades academies a boost for 'employers and students'; National standards released; Canterbury University to raise $100 million from retail bonds; Ngai Tahu keen for New Zealand's first ever education PPP; Business plus government equals 'quality and options in education'; British Conservatives back for-profit state schools; 'Portfolio' school district model brings benefits.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 131, Does a bad start in life make for failure at school?, 18 October 2009. By Roger Kerr. At an Easter hat parade at Bellfield Primary School in Melbourne, a child’s mother got into a punch-up with another mother and head-butted her unconscious in front of 250 children. Did anyone bat an eyelid? No, says the then principal, John Fleming. The children had seen plenty of this kind of violence before, and the Easter hat parade continued as usual.

Opens in new window Feature: Will Aorangi School be New Zealand's first education PPP?, 5 October 2009. Ngai Tahu's commercial arm has reportedly expressed interest to education minister Anne Tolley in a public-private partnership (PPP) over Christchurch's Aorangi School.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 75, 29 September 2009. In Subtext this month: Australia to publish school literacy, numeracy results on website; Tolley considers 'fast-track' teacher training; Private school legislation needs overhaul, says Law Commission; Higher fees, business input needed to keep up UK university standards, report says; Applications open for government scholarships to NZ private schools; Get over league table scaremongering, says head of trustee organisation; Government backs 'tertiary high schools'; Fee rise needed to stop academic brain drain, says Auckland vice-chancellor; Students bear 21 percent of tertiary education costs

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 130, A Swedish model for education?, 24 September 2009. By Roger Kerr. The Swedish education system is often referred to as an education voucher system. Schools in Sweden are the responsibility of municipalities, which largely fund them (with some central government assistance). All schools in a municipality – public and private – are funded on the same basis. The policy is based on the proposition that the state has responsibility to ensure all children get a good education but that it does not need to run all schools.

Opens in new window Feature: Law Commission praises private schools, recommends their Act's overhaul, 23 September 2009. As the Law Commission recommends major changes to New Zealand's private school legislation, it has praised their role in the education system: "The freedom of parents to decide how and where their children are educated is important. Private schools provide healthy competition for the state sector in a way that promotes high standards. Private schools can also be better placed to cater for the increasing religious, philosophical and cultural diversity in society."

Opens in new window Feature: Business input needed to keep UK university standards high, report finds, 21 September 2009. Higher tuition fees, higher interest rates on loans and more employer input are necessary to ensure the high quality of a university education, a major study finds. More information is at the CBI website: http://www.cbi.org.uk

Opens in new window Feature: Listen and learn, teachers, 6 September 2009. Editorial in the Dominion Post. Just who is in charge of our public education system? Is it Anne Tolley, education minister in a Government overwhelmingly voted into office last November? Or teachers? The answer should be Mrs Tolley.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 74, 31 August 2009. In Subtext this month: School report cards backed by Australian education minister; Western Australia schools to be given autonomy over courses and staff; Britain’s state schools may be run for profit; 'Unique character' gets results for Westmount School; PPP projects on the rise around the world; 'Tough love' advocated for underperforming schools; 'Rich' school performance reports would 'improve the school system'

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 73 , 30 July 2009. In Subtext this month: Minister advocates private organisations for state education services; British teachers face the sack in five-year licence plan; Tolley firm on primary school standards; Private firms enlisted to overhaul Detroit high schools; "No-fee degrees" touted for British students who live at home; New US loan-repayment scheme allows student to pay as they earn; Oxford University may reject state funding for higher fees

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 129, Teachers must oppose national standards, 15 July 2009. By John Bishop. No wonder the primary teachers are up in arms about national standards, and particularly the prospect that comparisons between schools will be possible through the publication of each school's results. No wonder they are talking industrial action and proposing to withhold the data about their school's results so that "league tables" comparing schools' rankings will not be possible.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 128, Fund kids not schools, 14 July 2009. By Jennifer Buckingham. The debate over funding to Australian non-government schools has never really gone away. On the horizon is yet another review of federal funding arrangements and it is likely that big changes will be made. ... Non-government schools deserve public funding because they are educators of the public. Non-government schools can serve the key productive and social functions of public education just as well as government schools.

Opens in new window Feature: Education minister Anne Tolley talks about primary school national standards and ranking schools, 30 June 2009. Listen to Anne Tolley on Morning Report (Thursday, 29 June) discussing the public availability of National Standards in primary schools. The standards, which come in next year, would make it possible for people to rank schools.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 72, 29 June 2009. British school headteachers to get more control over budgets; Teachers lack incentives to improve teaching, report says; Britain's new business and education super-ministry to tackle recession; Small King Country community brings the polytech to town; Flexible training proposed to alleviate ECE teacher shortage; British teachers offered £10,000 bonus to teach in tough schools; Harvard alumni lend directly to students in innovative loan scheme

Opens in new window Feature: Roger Moses recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours, 2 June 2009. Roger Moses, headmaster of Wellington Boys' College and the Education Forum's deputy chair, has been awarded an ONZM (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit) in the Queen's Birthday Honours. Mr Moses was awarded the ONZM for his services to education.

Opens in new window Feature: Budget 09: Private schools' $35m lifeline wins applause, 29 May 2009. Private schools are "delighted" with the Budget's $35 million funding announcement as they had been struggling with a "crippling capped funding regime for the past 10 years".

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 71, 27 May 2009. In Subtext this month: Australian universities seek to attract private finance; Kiwi home-schoolers take on the world and win; Charter schools appearing worldwide; Private schools and girls top NCEA exam pass list; More than 100 groups line up to run trades academies; New Zealand 'top of the class' in science excellence; 'School chains' website aims to boost choice; 'Achievement gap' in United States schools causes 'permanent recession'.

Opens in new window Feature: National Standards Consultation, 18 May 2009. The government has released consultation papers for its National Standards proposals, and is to hold meetings about its proposals around the country. The Standards establish clear expectations of progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. The Ministry has also developed examples of plain language reports for parents so to help them better support their child’s education.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 127, Positive outlook on curriculum, 12 May 2009. By Kevin Donnelly. During her time as Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has made her stance, and that of the Australian Government, very clear on school curriculum. Mirroring concerns about falling standards and state and territory dumbed-down curriculums, Gillard describes herself as a traditionalist and argues for a back-to-basics approach to learning

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 70, 30 April 2009. In Subtext this month, Govt making waves throughout the education sector; Top schools to manage failing ones, government proposes; Change agent Iain Taylor gets Manurewa Intermediate moving; National standards will enable league tables for primary schools; Foreign student industry growing but well below peaks; Business links bring £10.3 billion to universities; Report considers success secrets of world-class universities; Top state secondary schools seek zoning exemption; Register for private schools finds broad approval

Opens in new window Feature: Kiwi kids behind Kazakhstan in science, 11 December 2008. Primary school children's science achievement has plummeted to its worst level in 14 years. An international study shows New Zealand year 5 pupils are doing worse in maths and science than children in more than half the other 36 countries surveyed. Business advocacy group Business New Zealand says the findings are deeply concerning.

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