Woodhouse: 'Parents will be disempowered'

Michael Woodhouse

Like most parents we have taken a close interest in the schooling of our children, believing it to be an important three-way collaboration between our children, their teachers and us as parents.

I spent a couple of years as a board of trustees treasurer and my wife spent several years on the PTA. It's a fairly common scenario and one which you may relate to. Not everything about the system of school governance is perfect by any means, and the Government's Tomorrow's Schools Independent Task Force was a timely and necessary opportunity to improve the sector while maintaining that important symbiosis between school and home.

The task force has reported back after undertaking what they described as significant consultation, but it is clear from discussions with parents, teachers and the 19,000 board members around the country that many are not aware of the conclusions and recommendations.

There are some positive aspects of the report in areas such as learning support, and we believe there is a need to improve governance and collaboration in our education system. However, we have serious concerns about recommendations that transfer more responsibilities from parents to bureaucrats. We are concerned that parents will be disempowered as a result of the model.

There are wide-ranging changes proposed across eight key issues - Governance, Schooling Provision, Competition and Choice, Disability and Learning Support, Teaching, Leadership, Resourcing and Central Education Agencies. The theme of the recommendations is of more central control rather than community control, and of less choice in schooling.

The report concludes that the board of trustees model is not working consistently well. Rather than improve consistency, it proposes to establish 20 Education Hubs and to transfer much of boards' responsibility to the unelected bureaucrats, including the appointment of the principal. It considers any competition between schools to be unhealthy and proposes stricter limits on enrolments, likely resulting in reduced choice for children and their parents. Decisions on school provision, including things like opening and closing decisions will be made centrally rather than by the school community.

It is a concerning reality that some students, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, are not succeeding as they could, and some schools are not performing as well as others. Rather than identify the attributes of those high-performing schools in disadvantaged communities (and there are many) and replicate those attributes to improve performance, the proposals could have the opposite effect by creating a generic cookie-cutter model that stifles innovation and community connection.

We are keen to ensure you have the fullest appreciation of the proposed changes. This Wednesday, February 27, I am holding a public meeting at 7pm at the Mornington Presbyterian Community Centre, Maryhill Tce. National's education spokeswoman and former education minister Nikki Kaye will present a summary of the key recommendations followed by an interactive discussion where your concerns can be aired and your questions answered.

Our hope is that, through the meetings we are holding around the country, we can identify ways to improve on the proposed changes and work constructively with the Government to implement a system that not only endures political cycles but, most of all, improves the quality of teaching and learning for future generations of young New Zealanders.