Posts by Steve Barnes
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Hard News: Moving from frustration to disgust, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
metaphorical heads should be rolling.
Metaphorical Heads, is that “Principals”? and what have they been rolling?.
Anyhoo.The Ministry responded to Morning Report in a statement, saying ministry guidelines state “householder income should not be considered when zones are drawn up”.
Can someone explain how this can be so when according to the NZPTA (PDF here)
A school’s decile rating indicates the extent to which the school draws its students from low socio-economic communities. The indicator is based on Census data for households with school-aged children in each school’s catchment area. It is determined by factors such as:
• Household income.
• Occupation.
• Household crowding.
• Income support.The zoning and rating are intertwined. It would, of course, be possible to skew these stats. to make your school rank higher decile wise but then you would lose Govt. funding.
The reasoning behind the decile system is
based on giving parity to educational
outcomes across all socio-economic groups.
It can be convincingly argued that a greater
number of students in lower decile schools
present significantly more challenges to the
school in terms of learning and behaviour
needs, thereby requiring greater
expenditure. It can also be argued that lower
decile schools are not able to achieve the
same levels of income from their
communities that higher decile schools can
achieve. So the decile system provides the
Government with a levelling tool. Schools
that are expected to have higher costs due
to socio-economic factors are given more,
while schools that are able to bring in more
money from their own community receive
less.Are we talking pure snob value here or do decile 10 schools really have better results than, say, a decile 3 school and if so what are the factors at play here?
A happy and stimulating home life, with adequate food and shelter, is a factor that should not be ignored. so, if there are outcomes differentiated by these factors then perhaps it is not the schools we should be looking to to solve this problem.
But then with this lot in charge it could be as simple as plain old union bashing and damn the consequences. -
Perhaps, if we trusted teachers as experts in their field and let them decide the best way to teach kids the problem would go away (if there actually is a problem and not just a bunch of numbers that don't look good for election purposes). I am sick of this Government not only dismissing expert opinion but claiming that experts are a problem to be dealt with because they don't agree with the ideology.
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Matthew Poole,
the Fish & Chip Act 1903
Aha!, I looked it up and I think you made that up.
Even I can't imagine the NZ Police arresting someone because they didn't like the style of his cravat and we do have laws that cover quite low levels of disorderly behaviour. So, while we may have no law to protect Mr Wimpy Average from seeing a drunk person and being offended we do have laws covering the behaviour of said drunk.
Perhaps the problem lies in the Police attitude to "civilians"* rather than the existing laws.
* this annoys me no end as the police are not the military and therefore also civilians but they like to think we are some sort of inferior kind of citizen. -
Russell Norman always reminds me of Harvey Norman but without the washing machines. Don't know about the baggy suit.
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Hard News: Friday Music: When there were…, in reply to Hebe,
has anyone else noticed the likeness of ginger-period Jim Kerr to the Greens’ Russell Norman?
I haven't but then I don't know what Jim Kerr looks like.
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Martin Lindberg,
I’m not saying that crews should roam the streets at night and pick up anyone drunk and incapable and ship them off to the marmite-factories, but it’s a discussion worth having.
There does seem to be a shortage of Marmite at the moment.
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Urewera pair to serve time at home
Signer was found guilty of five firearms charges and not guilty of five. Bailey was found guilty of six firearms charges and not guilty of four.
The other members of the quartet, Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, were each sentenced to two and half years in prison after being found guilty of six firearms charges and not guilty of four.
Brings a whole new meaning to "Whitey Go Home"
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If the police find someone drunk and incapable they should take them home and tuck them into bed, that would solve the problem and it would be cheaper than clogging up the courts with hungover people.
There, I said it. -
Hard News: Moving from frustration to disgust, in reply to Dave Patrick,
their parents may have more interest in their education, both parents aren’t probably working 3 jobs between them so can devote time to homework, they’ll have a decent internet connection and books to research homework topics, the school itself won’t be struggling with kids who haven’t had breakfast let alone brought any lunch with them as well,
It's not the school you go to , it's the home you come from and if you come from a home with money then you probably went to a good school.
johnkey really does believe that he is there to help those that have already helped themselves, fuck the rest of us, we just don't count and if we find ways to help ourselves they will want to profit from that. They just don't want an educated populace, it may cut into the chosen ones comfort. -
That's not all...
'white flight' from low decile schoolsSecondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said...
"The only credible reason would appear to be 'white flight' from low decile schools and that would indicate that, in the school sector at least, there is a growing division on ethnic and socio-economic lines, which I would suggest is not a good thing for New Zealand society.''
And...
School leak list growsDocuments released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show a total of 273 primary, intermediate and secondary schools - dozens of them in Auckland - are now listed in ministry documents as having a "defective" or leaky building.
Now remind me, who was in charge when our building standards were reduced to increase profits for big business?.
These Guys.
Budget 2012: Government cuts back housing schemeMr Heatley said every dollar invested with non-government providers delivered two to three times as much social housing as the Government could provide.
I have to agree, this Government is not as efficient as a bunch of money grubbing property developers at fleecing the poor and they seem to be proud of the fact.