One of the reasons I support charter schools, but not the only reason, is that they put the fear of God in to the teachers’ unions. And so, it is with some pleasure that I see that, right on cue, the teachers’ unions are saying they are afraid of the new format charter schools that David Seymour announced this week.
Unions representing teachers are still questioning how charter schools will improve the education system, after David Seymour revealed the government will put $153 million into 50 charter schools over the next four years.
Seymour, the ACT Party leader and Associate Education Minister, said the schools will be held to a high standard because they will be contracted to reach high attendance and achievement standards. Those standards will be in the school’s contracts, which are still being worked through.
“With charters, the consequences for low performance are higher, and the mechanisms that the state has to hold them accountable are higher,” he said in Auckland on Tuesday.
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The unions really are thick. The reason why charter schools will improve educational outcomes for their students is because they are actually held accountable for their results.
What gets measured gets done and charter schools are designed to pursue excellence rather than be dumbed down by union automatons.
He also claimed the unions are against charter schools because its teachers may not be members.
“They should just be honest, they should come out and say the reason we don’t like charter schools is that it is an existential threat to our model because we collect a percentage of our members’ salary,” he said.
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There is a fair amount of truth in Seymour’s statement. The unions are just mad that they won’t be able to control more schools, and that some state schools may opt to become charter schools, diminishing the pool of union-controlled schools.
The trade union discovered, under the official information act, that charter schools cost up to $48,421 per student annually between 2014 and 2018. When adjusted for inflation, that figure jumped to around $60,000.
This was significantly higher than the about $18,485 spent in the public system, according to the OECD.
Chris Abercrombie, president of the PPTA also said the money could be better spent in the public sector.
“Talk to any principal or teacher and they will be able to tell you about initiatives that they are desperate for funding for, to meet the needs of the students in their schools, whether that is supporting attendance initiatives, learning support, food in schools, relationships and participation with the local community,” he said.
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Ahhh…the real nub of the issue: the union-dominated schools are jealous. I suspect though that those figures are not comparing apples with apples. But since when have unions ever bothered with the truth?
If the unions are upset then it’s likely to be a good policy that should be extended.
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