Firth's league tables bill washes hands of damage done to schools

Commenting on a story in today's Sydney Morning Herald ('Ban lifted on school league tables', page 5,  19 June), Dr Kaye said: "Verity Firth has washed her hands of the devastating impacts that league tables will have on schools that serve disadvantaged communities.
 
"Her claim that this legislation is about transparency is nonsense.
 
"Ms Firth is deliberately ignoring the accountability already provided by annual school reports. Parents and the community have full access to detailed information on the performance of every school in NSW.
 
"The Minister's legislation will allow the Commonwealth government to put all that information on a single website, making school league tables inevitable.
 
"Prohibiting third parties obtaining school results under Freedom of Information is a charade. Any media organisation will be able to harvest the full set of individual school results from Julia Gillard's name-and-shame website.
 
"The good news is that legislation is not through yet. The National Party, the Shooters and the Christian Democrats all have good reasons for blocking the bill.
 
"Principals and teachers from the public and private sectors and both education unions are strongly opposed. Parents are deeply concerned that this will create another layer of unfairness.
 
"All educators are worried that the publication of league tables will hollow out the curriculum.
 
"As teachers are driven to focus on securing their school's position on the league tables, education will run a poor second to boosting test results.
 
 "Verity Firth is pushing legislation that will inflict severe damage on schools that struggle and compromise educational outcomes across the board," Dr Kaye said.
 
The Herald story is available at:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/ban-lifted-on-school-league-tables-20090618-cm0h.html
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455