[Greens-Media] Expert right: school 'league tables' fail students

[John Kaye]

Expert right: school 'league tables' fail students
 
Media Release: 27 October 2008
 
Greens NSW MP John Kaye has called on the Rees government to heed the
warning from a visiting UK education expert that school 'league tables'
do nothing to improve education or overcome disadvantage.
 
Commenting on an opinion piece by Peter Mortimore in today's Sydney
Morning Herald ('Finland is the shining light' p16), Dr Kaye said:
"Education Minister Verity Firth should listen to the evidence that
shows the performance of British schoolkids has gone backwards since
introducing a 'league table' testing regime.
 
"Minister Firth needs to take a tough stand against her federal
colleague Julia Gillard who has signed on to the worst of the overseas
experiment.
 
"The Rees government needs to look beyond the spin being peddled by
Julia Gillard.
 
"The ideology of choice and false transparency emanating from Canberra
has been a failure in comparable OECD countries.
 
"Verity Firth would do well to study the Peter Mortimore’s example of
Finland where consistently strong results have been achieved by
rejecting 'league tables' and providing a well resourced public
education sector.
 
"If state and federal education ministers are serious about overcoming
disadvantage and improving outcomes for school students they will
embrace solutions that demonstrably work.
 
"Instead of cutting Priority Action Schools Program funding, Minister
Firth should be boosting support for public schools that serve
struggling communities.
 
"An equitable teacher transfer system and attractive salaries would
recruit and retain hard working professionals that the overseas
experience shows are essential to quality outcomes.
 
"Verity Firth should reject Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard's
rather bizarre agenda of overcoming disadvantage by propping up taxpayer
funding to elite private schools," Dr Kaye said.
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 
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John Kaye
Greens member of the NSW Parliament
phone: (02) 9230 2668
fax: (02) 9230 2586
mobile: 0407 195 455
email: john.kaye at parliament.nsw.gov.au
web: www.johnkaye.org.au
 
mail: Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000