Principals fight back

Stuff reports:

Furious principals say they will march on Parliament in protest at the most radical restructuring in 30 years, saying the proposals will destroy schooling as New Zealand knows it.

Good. The public need to know how radical and destructive these changes will be. It will be lowest common denominator where no school will be allowed to be different or better than other schools.

But at some of the bigger secondary schools, especially in Auckland, anger is mounting. In this week’s strongly-worded attack, Macleans College principal Steven Hargreaves wrote to parents and staff in the holidays to say the proposed changes would “destroy the school system in New Zealand as we know it”.

It will be a triumph for central control and ending effective parental involvement in schools.

Taking power away from boards would create “bland, one-size-fits-all” institutions and destroy the role of communities in schools, Hargreaves said.
He called on parents to oppose the recommendations and said parents had already been quick to voice their backing for him.
Parents wanted to know they could have an impact on their children’s education through the board of trustees’ parent representatives, he said. “To think that that’s going to be passed over to another faceless bureaucracy is what really worries them,” he said.

These 20 education hubs will all be run by people directly appointed by the Minister. How many principals whose views are contrary to the Minister will survive such a purge?