Charter Schools - John Key's re-assurances

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1. The Prime Minister’s ‘committments’

Three months ago, Dear Leader gave assurances that National would dump Charter Schools if they failed to “work”.  He said,

“If they don’t work then the Government will close them down very quickly – if they do work then it will be great for the children involved.” – source

Key then added,

“If you look at the US where they are the most prevalent – there are about 5,500. Not all of them are successful but many of them are.” – Ibid

Those two statements are unfortunate for two reasons;

2. The Prime Minister’s ‘credibility’

Without beating about the bush and indulging in ‘niceties‘, John Key’s credibility is shot to hell.

As detailed in  previous blogposts and elsewhere on other blogs and in the MSM, John Key has not always told the truth, nor fulfilled his committments.

Past pledges and promises have been broken. Promises such as,

• Promised to introduce food-in-schools, when National was in Opposition, and has since retreated from the policy (National launches its Food in Schools programme )
• Promised to cap the state sector and not cut – National has sacked  over 2,500 workers (National’s pledge card)
• Promised to stem the migration to Australia – migration has worsened (Kiwis still flocking across Tasman)
• Promised to raise wages – instead National is implementing policies to drive wages down by introducing legislation to remove certain protections such as the repeal of Section 6A from the Employment Relations Act  (New industrial relations laws rewrite labour rules)
• that cutting taxes and raising gst were  “fiscally neutral”  (Government’s 2010 tax cuts costing $2 billion and counting)
• Promised  West Coast families to retrieve the bodies of 29 dead miners, and then going back on his word
• Promised not to raise GST – and then raised it anyway (Key ‘no GST rise’ video emerges)
• Promised to include the agricultural sector in the ETS, but instead  weakened the ETS, contrary to assurances in 2008 (blogpost: ETS – National continues to fart around)
• Promised to create 170,000 new jobs (Budget 2011: Govt predicts 170,000 new jobs)
• Promised to “build rail” – yet Kiwirail is cutting services and National is cutting subsidies (Public transport faces subsidy cuts)
• Promised not to interfere  with Kiwisaver (Key readies voters for changes to KiwiSaver)
• Promised not to interfere  with Working for Families (National’s pledge card)
• made a committment at a public meeting, last year,  to limit overseas purchases of  ten farms per purchaser (blogpost:  Another of John Key’s lies – sorry – “Dynamic Situations” )
• Fell short of 4,000 new jobs promised by the national cycleway (Cycleway jobs fall short)
• has stated that more jobs are being created – even as unemployment has risen to 6.8%, and expected to go higher  on 4 November (Unemployment rises: 6.8pc)
• There is “no housing crisis in Christchurch” (No Christchurch rental crisis -’Pontius’ Brownlee)

There are also instances where statements made by Key which have stretched our credulity,

• that he received an email claiming that Standard & Poors would have made  an even bigger downgrade had a  Labour Government been in office, and was subsequently unable to prove it’s veracity (The PM did not attend meeting and email reveals S&P did not snipe at Labour)
• that he had “no knowledge” of John Banks’ lies regarding the Dotcom and Skycity donations
• that he has not been involved in backroom, secret negotiations with Skycity (Key ‘back pedalling’ on Sky City)
• that he has not been involved in backroom, secret negotiations with Mediaworks (Key changes tack over meeting with broadcaster)
• that he had no knowledge of GCSB’s involvement on the raid on Kim Dotcom’s mansion (blogpost:  Dear Leader, GCSB, and Kiwis in Wonderland – Part Rua )( John Key briefed on Dotcom spying in February )
• that he had knowledge of the purchase of 36 new BMW limousines (PM signed papers relating to BMWs)
• etc, etc, etc.

More here.

And often indulges in flatout bullshit such as this little gem  on the public ownership of natural resources,

“ … So if you accept that viewpoint, then I think you have to accept that elements like water and wind and the sun and air and fire and all these things, and the sea, along with natural resources like oil and gas, are there for the national interest of everyone. They’re there for the benefit of all New Zealanders, not one particular group over another. “

See: TVNZ Q+A Interview with Prime Minister John Key

Politicians have a poor reputation when it comes to telling the truth. In the case of our current Prime Minister, in this blogger’s opinion, he has made bending the truth; with-holding information; and outright lying into a whole new artform.

No wonder there is a joke floating around cyberspace, on Facebook, blogs, and elsewhere,

Q: How can to tell John Key is lying?
A: His lips are moving.

Which probably explains why politicians are viewed with such disdain; League Tables that really count!

3. The Prime Minister’s ‘truthfulness’

Key said,

“If you look at the US where they are the most prevalent – there are about 5,500. Not all of them are successful but many of them are.”

As usual, Dear Leader’s comments can never be taken at face value.

The truth is that a Stanford University CREDO analysis of Charter Schools in the US revealed the disturbing fact that only 17% of American charter schools did better than non-charter schools.

See: Stanford University: Charter School Performance in 16 States (USA)

The rest achieved same, or worse results,

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Source: Wikipedia Charter Schools (based on CREDO study)

So who will trust John Key on this issue?

Who will trust Key’s committment when he says “if they [Charter Schools ] don’t work then the Government will close them down very quickly” – when he doesn’t even give us accurate information about the efficacy of Charter Schools?

Telling us that “not all of them are successful but many of them are” – is disingenuous. It is a deliberate ploy to mislead the public.

And proves yet again – if evidence was needed – that this man is the most untruthful Prime Minister we have had since —?

4. Furthermore…

John Key assures us, hand-on-heart, that “if they [Charter Schools ] don’t work then the Government will close them down very quickly“…

Which is all very nice (if he can be taken at his word, which is doubtful), but how will he know if Charter Schools “don’t work “?

Actually, we won’t know.

National intends to remove Charter Schools from all public scrutiny and will be exempt from Official Information Act requests. All information regarding Charter Schools will be kept secret by National,

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Full story

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To put it mildly, this is an extraordinary state of affairs. A radical new experiment in education will not be open to public scrutiny. According to John Banks, the architect of this crazy programme,

“DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A NEW ZEALAND MODEL OF CHARTER SCHOOL

[...]

Ombudsmen Act and Official Information Act (OIA)

These acts would not apply to Partnership Schools/Kura Hourua because they are not Crown Entities. This is the same case for private schools.

This will help to ensure Partnership Schools/Kura Hourua are not susceptible to costly and vexatious requests. The contract will specify the information that must be provided to government, and this will be subject to the OIA.”

Source:  Office of the Associate Minister of Education (Hon John Banks) – Developing and Implementing a New Zealand Mode of Charter School

It’s interesting that a politician with the lowest reputation for honesty and openess in this country’s history – John Banks – has decided that Charter Schools will be exempt from OIA requests and Ombudsman oversight.

Banks’ attempted to justify this paranoid secrecy by suggesting that Charter Schools would be “susceptible to costly and vexatious requests“.

Laughable…

Extraordinary…

Worrying…

And scandalous.

5. Summing up…

So what do we have here?

1. The  Prime Minister promises that  “if they [charter schools] don’t work then the Government will close them down very quickly “.
2. Key assured the public that ” not all of them are successful but many of them are ” – ignoring the truth that only 17% of Charter schools in the US have been deemed “better” by a Stanford University CREDO study.
3. There will be no public oversight of Charter schools.
4. The Minister in charge of Charter Schools, John Banks, justified the removal of public oversight and secrecy on the flimsiest of excuses.
5. The public will have to rely on the National Party for accurate and impartial reporting of Charter Schools progress. (Imagine Key’s reaction had Labour proposed such a thing! Imagine the cries of “nanny state” and “Helengrad”?!))
6. Neither John Banks nor John Key are held in high regard in many parts of New Zealand society. Key is known for breaking promises; abandoning committments; and mis-representing the truth. John Banks was engaged in dishonest activities surrounding his mayoral campaign donations; lied about his activities; claimed “forgetfulness”; and was investigated by the police. He was not prosecuted – but only because his actions went beyond a statute of limitations. (Banks still refuses to publicly release a record of his police interview, despite his assertion of “nothing to hide, nothing to fear”.)

This blogger finds nothing reassuring in the utterances of John Key and John Banks.

An incoming Labour-Green-NZ First-Mana government has no option but to close down this dodgy programme, or at the very least, incorporate these schools into the state system.

Otherwise, Charter schools are a ‘time-bomb’ waiting to go off.

Does Shearer really, really want such a  legacy from John Banks?

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Previous related blogposts

Christchurch, choice, and charter schools

Charter Schools – Another lie from John Banks!

Dear Leader, GCSB, and Kiwis in Wonderland (Part Rua)

Sources

TV3: Key defends charter schools trial

Otago Daily Times: PM vows charter schools out the door if they fail

NZ Herald: Charter schools escape scrutiny

Radio NZ: Charter school group wants to register unqualified teachers

Additional

Many oppose proposed charter school

Charter schools: They’re not better for our kids

Other Blogs

Seemorerocks:  One video exposes Key, GCSB’s & Banks’ Dotcom lies

Not PC: John Key lies [updated]

Infonews:  National’s growing list of broken promises

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