Hard News: Mediocrity Watch
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We've been talking about this pay equity thing quite a bit at The Hand Mirror and have set up a to keep track of the coverage and discussion, and any collective activity around the issue. And we've got a pay equity faxathon going on too.
The impact of the changes coming through the introduction of standards don't seem to have been very well thought through. If teachers' pay is linked to these standards, and don't think that isn't the long term plan, then there will be a huge disincentive for teachers to take on the children with additional needs. Those who do will be poorly rewarded for their efforts.
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To defend Allan Peachey and the select committee, I have heard hints that they are interested in working on some of these issues, and hearing from parents and professionals. So let's wait for our invitations.
What worries my slightly is that apparently Act MP Heather Roy has been allocated Assoc Min responsibilities for special education, and on Back Benches last night did mention her enthusiasm for school choice. Choice for who? And how? I can just see kids with special ed needs being given a budget rate voucher for their education but no school accepting it.
And that typo might have been my transcribing rush. I'll check the original.
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The Republican response, from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, is widely agreed to have been a disaster.
Um, yes, watching Jindal argue the stimulus is eeeevil but... *whisper* Louisiana is actually going to take the overwhelming majority of it, was like watching a teenager on a chastity kick explain that blow-jobs don't really count.
Meanwhile, the Republicans seem intent on killing off any actual sane people representing the party. As Craig R will always point out, Olympia Snowe looks a lot more like the solution for the GOP than the problem. But what would I know?
More to the point, WTF planet is Michael Steele on? He's saying "Look, my retribution is the retribution of the voters in their states. They're going to have to go through a primary in which they're going to have to explain to those Republican voters in that primary..."
He must know Collins and Snowe's approval ratings (both currently in the high seventies), and the eye-watering margins they both won re-election by. In 2006, Snowe won 74.4% of the vote (again 20.5% for her Democrat challenger). That was the second largest margin of any candidate in the Senate -- and the first, Richard Lugar of Indiana, didn't have a Democrat opponent. Last November, Collins comfortably won with a 23% margin and 61.5% of the vote.
Steele does know that, doesn't he?
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Hilary: Imagine a school being asked to take on special needs kids or those who have been in trouble with previous schools or with the law. Imagine the lobbying within a school for the good kids with good skills and attitudes and the dumping of the less desirable. Imagine the enthusiasm for teachers who have a choice between a good school (whatever that is) and a bad school. Imagine the jealous guarding of successes and fresh ideas by teachers wishing to preserve their advantage over others. Choice? Vouchers? Politicians? Ugh!
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...to the demonstrated failure of the [No] Child Left Behind policy of frequent testing in the US.
Which is unlikely to change under Obama. But the Act will be rebranded so that the name is less jarringly hok'um. Shall look forward Huffington Post and TPM offering extensive praise, focusing on the superior kudos inherent in the Obama brand.
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You want serious well thought out policys and legislation ................ dont you realize there's that important populist stuff to attend to .............
I know a teenage boy who is just starting university this year .
He's 90-95% blind and has 'battled' his way through the education system.
Part of the problem he faced was although his high school recieved extra funding for having a pupil with special needs, it was up to the principle what portion of that extra funding was spent on him.
In other words his funding was swallowed into the general operating budget of the school ............. the principle got to decide how much the blind boy recieved of his funding.
Aside from not getting enough teacher resources directed his way he also faced extra hurdles rangeing from bullying ( yep , he had charming things like boys pushing him into door jams etc ) through to always getting his work resources for assignments and such late ............. he was still expected to hand them in on time though.
There are large funding holes in the education sector.
Expect them to get bigger.
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Ian - That is actually close to reality in some places.
There must be some way we can have a strong united and collective voice on the education of all kids with special educational needs as a human rights issue. Possibly 10% (probably higher) of kids have special educational needs. Parents and schools have a variety of ideas about what appropriate special ed looks like. Traditionally we have been split by diversions into arguments re special schools, units, mainstreaming, home schooling etc.
But there must be a collection of principles that we can all agree on around such things as adequate funding, workforce (well trained and remunerated), and access to welcoming and inclusive local schools (perhaps with some additional specialist local options).
What a powerful lobby that would be. -
Apropos of cicadas, well ok not really, has anyone else noticed that bees seem to be coming back?
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Labour's work on pay equity only gets media attention when the Nats (as usual) revoke it - and without consultation. It's depressing.
It follows that now Tony Ryall has revoked the years of good work on public sector pay equity, men's jobs in some areas will go, as public service managers are asked to account for every penny.
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has anyone else noticed that bees seem to be coming back?
The opposite, I'm afraid. Here in Wellington, and on a recent visit to Hamilton, I noticed I couldn't see any bees even on bee-magnet plants, but there were lots of bumblebees (I presume they are prospering without the competition from honeybees).
Where are you? It'd be nice to have more honeybees around.
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Yes to bees and yay to cicadas. It has been a fantastic summer for cicada song. That together with seagull cries just turn me into a nostalgic jelly - ahhh . . . summer.
Apropos Obama getting tough on banks and bankers. What a load of temporary, public-satisfying bullshit. It will be about one year before they are all back to doing whatever they like and paying themselves whatever they want. That is probably the first thing that will fully recover in the "free market". There will be meetings all over the world of clever bastards saying, "Well, we overcooked that derivatives thing a bit but we nearly had it right. Let's just tweak it up a bit this time around, and by the way, I've had this great idea on what to do with trillion dollar government debt . . ." -
"To defend Allan Peachey and the select committee, I have heard hints that they are interested in working on some of these issues, and hearing from parents and professionals."
I think you're trying to defend the indefensible.
First they pass the legislation *under*urgency*, then they ax the pay equity work for special needs teachers and THEN you hear "hints" that they are "interested in hearing" from parents and professionals.
Like in the old joke about the Viking: "What you mean pillage BEFORE we burn?" - sometimes the order you do things in really matters. Consult first and then act. And there are mechanisms in place for this - for example, committee stages in parliament - which National is working very hard to avoid.
"Act MP Heather Roy has been allocated Assoc Min responsibilities for special education"
I wonder whether she'll learn from that. Free markets (and "fake markets" such as voucher systems) work best in situations in which everyone has equal opportunity. In the case of kids with special needs it's obvious (surely obvious even to Roy) that you don't have equality of opportunity. It may force her to confront the limitations of the "fake market" model.
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I'm in Auckland, and so far this summer it's been as you say, but in the last few days I've started seeing isolated honeybees, and then yesterday I saw about 4 on separate occasions. I felt like catching one and shaking it's hand.
I haven't particularly noticed more bumblebees than usual. But they've been more conspicuous by virtue of being the only bees around. Just as well they are around too, I can only imagine what could happen to the flora of the country if there was nothing at all spreading pollen around, except for humans and wind.
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The education select committee has representatives from all parties in parliament, so even though the government has a majority, it is not necessarily just a mouth-piece for government. The non-government members also have a say. I heard that several members of the select committee know of family members, friends or constituents facing special ed issues, so they may be genuine in their concern. Let's see.
The various parties represented on the social services select committee of the last parliament managed to agree after a long public consultation on several recommendations about improving the quality and care of disabled people. That is now up to the current government to implement, but it previously had cross-party support through the select committee.
So select committees can have some teeth - if you get a chance to put your case to them (which didn't happen with several of this new government's bills which were passed under urgency).
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[NCLB] is unlikely to change under Obama.
Angus, really? I'm still hopeful, although it won't happen as fast as it would if Sasha and Malia were in DC public schools like brave little Amy Carter.
The thought of a similar regime hitting NZ schools just breaks my heart. The effects over here are so pernicious, so insidious, and so uniformly negative for children, teachers, administrators and parents alike. It's a policy that is badly thought-out, badly designed, badly run and enriching nobody but the manufacturers of testing prep material, as far as I can make out. One of whom is, funnily enough, Neil Bush.
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BUMBLE bees are everywhere in our garden at the moment, have been all summer. About a 2 to 1 ratio to normal bees. I've seen some exotic looking little bees too. poor old honey bees still seem quite thin on the ground however.
Cicadas, bug the hell out of me at 6am. Will miss 'em once theyve gone though!
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I haven't particularly noticed more bumblebees than usual. But they've been more conspicuous by virtue of being the only bees around. Just as well they are around too, I can only imagine what could happen to the flora of the country if there was nothing at all spreading pollen around, except for humans and wind.
Well, the native flora would do just fine, seeing as how they mostly got along without bees before humans introduced them (honeybees and bumblebees, anyway.) We'd still be good for clover and a few other things, because bumblebees were imported specifically to pollinate clover - so much so that the Brits are asking for some of the endangered ones back - that was what my summer project was about. Grasses and most trees would also get along - if think about pine pollen in spring and you'll realise why. But a significant portion of our food crops and non-native flowers would be *screwed*.
< /science rant>
We've been talking about this pay equity thing quite a bit at The Hand Mirror and have set up a to keep track of the coverage and discussion, and any collective activity around the issue. And we've got a pay equity faxathon going on too.
I'm due to post about this on our YL Chch blog later today, to help spread the word. It's a really excellent way to protest.
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I agree that there are some real issues around the way that education funding is delivered to children with special needs. One example I came across through my work once was a school where the child had ACC funding for a teacher aide, but the ACC money per hour was less than the lowest pay rate you could pay a teacher aide under their collective agreement. So the school had to stretch to fund the shortfall, and they did that partly by cutting the number of hours the teacher aide was actively with that child.
And thanks Lucy :-)
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I know a teenage boy who is just starting university this year .
He's 90-95% blind and has 'battled' his way through the education system.
I can't comment on any other university, but he might find things less of a battle at the tertiary level. Down here at least there's a strong disability service which works well for disabled students. They work with lecturers to get braille or digital versions of readings, they have a full time sign language interpreter, they deal with temporary and permanent physical disability issues. They have a core of full time staff and employ a number of students (notetakers etc) as well.
Cicadas, bug the hell out of me at 6am. Will miss 'em once theyve gone though!
Man, cicadas. I haven't thought about them in years. Certainly not something we hear around my house.
Is there a dividing line in NZ below which cicadas don't live?
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Why was nothing done during the long years of the Labour Government?
It's a bit tough to blame Ryall who has his sights firmly fixed on better medical services when Helen Clark etc had loads of time and ideology to move on pay equity.
It seems such a tired issue now in any case. Most of us are lucky to have jobs rather than wanting to whack away at our employers for more money.The special ed lobby has won some substantial victories but, as in all public services, there has to be a balance and also fairness for all kids. As a nation we also have to decide the best use of limited resources and dollars and that always means some groups are going to grumble.
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Well, the native flora would do just fine, seeing as how they mostly got along without bees before humans introduced them (honeybees and bumblebees, anyway.)
Have they not been somewhat enhanced by having their pollen spread around more selectively? I'm asking, not telling.
But a significant portion of our food crops and non-native flowers would be *screwed*.
I gather hand-pollination is an expensive alternative. How fast could a decimated honeybee population potentially return? Aren't the queens basically bee-making machines, so capable of extremely rapid repopulation?
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Mmmm cicadas. Wilma (in my avatar) likes cicadas. Flying dog treats.
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BTW - I see very few bees in Wellington - but a lot in Otaki - a few years ago it was all wasps, now they seem to have been supplanted by the bees.
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Have they not been somewhat enhanced by having their pollen spread around more selectively? I'm asking, not telling.
I dunno, but most wind and bird pollinated plants just aren't equipped for bees to pollinate them; they have flowers that bees don't see, or almost no flower at all, and so on. There's a possibility that the insect-pollinated ones do better with bees, but I'd want to see some hard data.
I gather hand-pollination is an expensive alternative.
Christ, yes; imagine a tomato plant. Now imagine going around with a paintbrush and transferring pollen from one flower to another. Now imagine doing that for *every tomato we eat*. It'd be a total nightmare.
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Why was nothing done during the long years of the Labour Government?
It's a bit tough to blame Ryall who has his sights firmly fixed on better medical services when Helen Clark etc had loads of time and ideology to move on pay equity.Oh, yeah, let's forget about pay equity; people are sick! Lucky we have all those (mostly female) nurses to help look after them, eh? And poor Ryall, getting all the flack for cancelling a Labour initiative. If Labour really cared, they would have got re-elected so he couldn't cancel it.
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