The school holidays are over and usually there's a collective sigh of relief as parents all over the country send their little darlings back to the classroom.
This year however there is tension in the air as both parents and the teaching profession debate the merits of a national system of standards for all New Zealand schools.
My fellow Mayor, Michael Laws of Wanganui, has launched a scathing attack on teachers claiming they are all 1970's socialists with the dress sense of ‘Save Mart' who work in a male-free zone that condemns boys to failure.
In my view, the issue is far more complex and I consider that the call by teachers for a trial period is not unreasonable.
The Government's own Associate Education Minister, Pita Sharples, has raised doubts about whether or not grading all our schools will improve literacy, and strong advocates of a standards' system such as Professor John Hattie are having second thoughts.
The view of the Teachers' Union is ‘when in doubt, try it out'.
That's generally our policy.
When Southland helped discover a cure for diabetes using Auckland Island pigs the Government demanded years of trials before they will allow this ‘cure' to be used by doctors and so they should.
Having a nationwide ‘cure' for educational failure may work brilliantly but it may completely backfire.
Literacy in low decile schools may reach a new low as both parents and teachers desert them.
In most other western countries the system of ‘national standards' is being quietly dropped.
I accept that education is not the responsibility of local government but we do have a responsibility for the wellbeing of the community, and as a result we are often dragged into the debate over school closures; funding for the Southern Institute of Technology, and now the debate over standards.
Without doubt there will be plenty of drama in 2010.