Monday, April 14, 2008

Chris Carter's 'choice'

I wonder where Chris Carter was educated. He doesn't appear to understand what the word 'choice' means. Let me just confirm that I do by referring to the Concise Oxford Dictionary. Yes. Choice is a decision made between possibilities.

On the current education system,

“....ordinary New Zealand families like the choices they have now and they don’t want to see money from their local school being siphoned off into private education.

“Families can send their children to a private school and that is their choice but real choice is about having a quality, world-leading education system that can be accessed by all New Zealand families.


What on earth is he on about. How can families like choices they don't even have. Real choice is about having more than one option for your child's education. If you can't go outside a prescribed zone, have no discretionary income left after tax, then you will likely have no school choice for your child, especially at secondary level.

ACT's policy would allow the funding for each individual's education to be available to the parent's school of choice be it state, integrated or independent.

When Labour cannot properly debate what choice is they just up and change the meaning of the word. Very handy. But a bad look for the Minister of Education.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carter and his ilk stil think that private schools are where all the rich pricks send their kids. My kid is at a private school not too far from your place Lindsay and there are plenty of parents there who are definately not rich. The choice for us was a crappy local school with semi literate kids running amok and teachers who spend half their time trying to discipline out of control kids, or work two jobs to send ours to schools that had high expectations of kids.

Brian Smaller

Andy said...

even just a tax-cut to the value of the cost of the private education would be something. But for Carter to talk about "choice" is absolute bollocks.

Anonymous said...

When my children went to a private school, the Government's contribution to the school was less than the GST on the fees paid by parents.