Michael Gove is comprehensively destroying the teaching unions

[longfingernails]

Just look at the wailing and gnashing of teeth over at the Guardian!
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/23/gove-struggling-schools-education-policy

Crap schools should buck up or close. Good ones should expand. Headteachers should sack crap teachers, and give raises/bonuses/promotions to good ones, irrespective of seniority. It's that simple.

I wonder how many Guardian writers send their children to bog-standard comprehensives? They regularly censor any comment which lists the former schools of their most prominent commentators, which show how pretty much all of them have been privately educated themselves.

Anyway, the effective loss of of national bargaining for the teaching unions is a tremendous achievement. Congratulations, Mr Gove!

lonfingernails - competition hasn't been such a great success so far. Higher rail fares and a worse service. Higher fuel prices with no brakes and enormous profits. Higher water rates and decreased service. Ever increasing phone bills and work outsourced to different continents! Thereby increasing the benefit burden on this country as jobs disappear and customer service standards plummet. Still, hey ho, as long as the shareholders get a profit....

Higher Fuel prices is due to competition now?

Wow, and here I was thinking it was largely down to restricted supply (OPEC cartel), increased demand (China, India, other rising powers), high tax take (We are charged VAT on the Fuel Tax as well as the Fuel) and loss of indigenous supply (All the easy North Sea Oil has been pumped now).

Of course naturally we should keep all these outsourced jobs in this country. And presumably you will be willing to pay a chunk more to cover the higher costs (I doubt the shareholders profits will be cut for this).

Competition isn't perfect, barriers to entry and price fixing will always try and appear (Both Wall street and Unions thrive on these practices). But the alternative is lack of flexibility and a lower overall level of service.

CT

CT .

Customer choice is the key feature of competition. Imagine if all the Blackberry users were forced to use iPhones or visa versa. Or if Facebook was the only social media platform permitted (no Mumsnet ).

Of course, many would argue that there is no place for customer choice in state education. But this ignores the reality that many parents do have choice. Those who can afford it, can buy a home in the catchment area of their chosen school.

Gove believes that this level of choice should be available to all - not just the affluent. And this puts the parent and child in the centre of the education model.

Yes higher fuel prices are due to privatisation / competition. Of course - there are shareholders to pay, door to door salesmen to get people to switch etc etc.

Yes the price of oil has gone up but so has the margin between the price of oil and the price to the consumer.

I actually was looking to see if people were whinging about the teachers' strike - nice to see they aren't.

In case anyone is interested, my wife who is a teacher is going on strike. For her that means she loses a day's pay, doesn't go in on thursday, but prepares extra materials for her classes to do so they don't get behind even at this early stage (year 12s just started their year 13 courses) and brings a whole stack of work home to do.

Gove would like to destroy the unions, and the games he has been playing have been nothing less than to force them to call strikes so he can call them unprofessional. And the destruction of local authorities is all about getting away from national payscales.

I am glad my kids will be out before schools are like FE colleges with the cheapest least qualified people getting the jobs.

Why is there a culture of 'education is pointless'? You dont see it in 4 yo's. Mine went to what would be termed a 'rough' school and when i helped out the early years were full of keen children whatever their background. This had changed by Y2. No more hands shooting up, the kids behind the average were disollusioned, no enthusiasm anymore.
Where does it go wrong?
This school had great teachers and crap teachers, like any other but failure was set for an individula by Y2 :(

Goves market forces method isnt going to deal with that.

"Gove believes that this level of choice should be available to all - not just the affluent. And this puts the parent and child in the centre of the education"

Does he really? Then id like to see support for single parents who want to Home Educae.

Riveninside - what's his policy for Home Ed? I know Balls was anti - but haven't seen Gove mention it.

Cameron is pro Home Ed but his policies make it impossible as a choice for single parents, or for many.

I can see that it would. The 'right' and 'centre right' believe that children have a better educational outcome when at least one parent works. Which might be true on average - but not in every case.

The left believe the state should maximise it's role in education.

A bit of a rock and a hard place for H

For Home Ed.

Then id like to see support for single parents who want to Home Educae.

You can! You have that right already. What I think you are inferring is that you'd like to see the state provide financial support for single parents who choose to home educate. That's a slightly different question and it would come down to money again. Just because you have that right, it doesn't mean the state has to pay for it.

Otherwise I'd like to see the government support transport policies by buying me a Ferrari.

I see Gove liked strikes in his younger days...http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/06/27/michael-gove-warns-teachers-but-he-also-went-on-strike/ here

I read that this morning.

link

I love it. It's the old Tory paternalism out in force. Do as I say not as I do.

I thought it was already well established that a background of union membership and striking makes you a more effective opponent when you decide to bat for the other side?

There is a shortage of teachers in some subjects so if you sack them-there will be even fewer!!

There are loads of unemployed teachers. I tried to find out how many and just found some boards of teachers complaining that they can't even get supply work even though they are prepared to travel for hours. (Putthat, I am sure you are right about some subjects having shortages).

And schools are using non-teaching staff as supervisors as cover. I feel sorry for NQTs and students doing teaching qualifications. There are hundreds and hundreds of applications for each post.

Gove's own council opposes using parents to break the strike:

politicalscrapbook.net/2011/06/gove-council-opposes-strike-breaking/

Gove's own council opposes using parents to break the strike:

politicalscrapbook.net/2011/06/gove-council-opposes-strike-breaking/

Parents will not support further strikes by teachers....I can assure you of this, at the moment it's a one off, but with parents having to find childcare, or taking time of work and children missing their education, I know of many who will not be happy. Any support this this strike will wane........

strike had.

Oh bugger....Any support this strike had, will wane.........

Complimentary - I'm a parent and I support the strike. Not in a 'sod about on Mumsnet' way; in a set up an anti-cuts group, organise a march and rally type way. Don't kid yourself.

Damon Green makes a fair point there. If journalists aren't allowed to have any kind of conversation with politicians, and are essentially there as delivery mechanisms for pre-prepared soundbites that will be repeated regardless of the question, then in what way can the media hold politicians accountable?

oops - wrong thread