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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



Who Should Pay?

 

 
 
Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 83, 29 July 2010. In Subtext this month: School property PPP announced by government; Public-private partnerships can mean 'better educational outcomes'; University funding may depend on graduates' employment; Interest free student loans 'unsustainable, review needed'; Teacher union's anti-standards stance 'not in best interests of Maori students'; Graduate tax proposed for England; Finland universities take more of a market approach

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 82, 29 June 2010. In Subtext this month: Profit making okay for state-funded academy schools in England; Large numbers look to open 'free schools' in England; Tertiary funding policy at an impasse: article by Roger Kerr; State-owned schools 'do not work for Maori'; School choice programme improves public schools, study finds; plus much more.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 134, Tertiary funding policy at an impasse, 22 June 2010. By Roger Kerr. A fundamental law of economics is that you can control the price of something or the quantity supplied, but not both. We saw that law in operation in the old Soviet system, with rationing and queues, and during the Muldoon wage and price freeze.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 133, The highly-valued 'nana' touch can't be taught in a degree, 29 May 2010. The Government decision to not have 100 per cent qualified teachers in early childhood education is a good one. Fiona Hughes, chief operations officer of Kidicorp, NZ's largest private provider of early childhood education, says "centres need nanas too".

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 81, 28 May 2010. In Subtext this month: Research and development vouchers to be trialled; Tighter student loan requirements, looser ECE teacher requirements -- Budget; Teaching jobs on the line if Colorado students fail; New British govt to bring more private management of state education; Incentive scheme a possibility to retain good teachers, says Tolley; Freedom to set university fees answer to limited funding -- Business NZ; British student fees need big increase to 'keep standards high'

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 80, 30 April 2010. In Subtext this month: Privately owned state primary school on the cards, says Bill English; Private school-styled institutions in Toronto state education to be set up; University fee increases on the cards; Profit-making companies could run state schools, say Conservatives; Poor schools make gains, girls still ahead – NCEA results; Whangarei's first private school opens; Tertiary institutions get more freedom to develop campuses; Streamlined polytechnic councils announced.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 79, 30 March 2010. In Subtext this month: Privately built state school to be announced by government; Website to highlight tertiary courses' success rates; Student performance to be linked to funding under tertiary reforms; Increased funding for Florida voucher scheme proposed; Calls increase for UK universities to 'charge what they want'; Successful student tuition fees strategy has three elements, expert says.

Opens in new window Op Ed: Issue 132, School choice: making a difference, 28 March 2010. By Roger Kerr. 'Step Change' asks education minister Anne Tolley to appoint a taskforce to determine how to implement its proposals in time for the 2011 school year. A system of choice for all children, not just those at either end of the spectrum, would be preferable and much more in tune with the rest of the world.

Opens in new window Feature: Minister unveils tertiary education reform, 9 March 2010. Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce, in his first speech in the role, told a business audience in Wellington this morning that he had three short-term goals - to tackle course completion rates; have qualifications that were meaningful and ensure student support money was not wasted. Mr Joyce said that the sector's funding needed to be better used because there would be no more coming in the budget.

Opens in new window Feature: Editorial: Student loans should be for the successful, 9 March 2010. Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce had barely opened the portfolio passed to him at the end of January before he floated a significant change. He proposes to make student loans conditional on the student's success.... And [they] should be.

Opens in new window Subtext: Subtext, Issue 78, 25 February 2010. In Subtext this month: School choice working party produces quality report; Parents overwhelm website that ranks Australian schools; National standards in New Year's spotlight; Teacher unions should focus on students not self-interest – PM; Big fees for 'premium' degrees 'acceptable'; Voucher school students 'more likely to graduate'; Denmark to allow private universities

Opens in new window Feature: Inter-party working group into school choice report , 16 February 2010. The report, Step Change: Success The Only Option, advocates choice: for students to develop a personal learning plan and for them to choose a learning provider who will meet their needs, interests and goals; and flexibility: for providers to expand and find staff, curricula and pedagogies that match student needs.

Opens in new window Media release: School choice working party produces quality report, 16 February 2010. The report of the National, ACT and Maori Party Working Group points the way forward in important areas of education policy, the chairman of the Education Forum, Byron Bentley, said today.

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: 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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