Gordon Campbell On Teachers, Ferries And The Really Wasteful Spending
In the context of yesterday’s teachers strike, Judith Collins claimed that teachers with ten years of experience “can” (not “do”) earn $147,000 a year. In […]
Education Policy
Gordon Campbell on the (lack of an) end game for the teachers strike
The education sector looks like one of those games of American football where its hard to keep your eye on where the ball is… Neither side seems to have much of a plan for advancing to the end zone.
Gordon Campbell on National’s obsolescence and the Greens’ dilemma
The weekend’s National Party conference felt like one of those Sunday nights on RNZ, when everyone can forget about all the modern stuff and tune back into the way we were.
Gordon Campbell on bidding good riddance to charter schools
There has never been a body of evidence – either here or in the US or anywhere else – to show that charter schools provide better educational results for kids
The crisis in secondary school teaching
An interview with PPTA president, Jack Boyle
Gordon Campbell on the fake scare about international students
Shock horror. International students pay fees, spend money, work part-time and pay tax in the NZ economy, and ultimately some of them stay on!
Ten Reasons For Not Voting National
Three more years of business as usual is the real risk.
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s anti-immigration gambit, and Israel
Evidently, Labour wants to branded itself with swing voters as an anti-immigration party making concerned noises about the festering irritations of living and working in Auckland.
Gordon Campbell on the damage de-regulation is doing to fisheries and education, plus Kate Tempest
Our faith in the benign workings of the market – and of the light-handed regulation that goes with it – has had a body count.
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s free education plan, Iowa and Jefferson Airplane
The “free” education policy that Labour has just unveiled has some obvious shortcomings. The universities are right to stress that the cuts to their net […]
Gordon Campbell on the gender pay gap
Column – Gordon Campbell Care to know what Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence thinks about the gender wage gap? No? Well, I suppose she is […]
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s TPP done deal on dairy, and on investor-state disputes
For five years, the public has been denied any meaningful information about the content and progress of the TPP – on the bogus excuse that […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2015
From the outset, the slogan for yesterday’s Budget – “The Plan Is Working” – begged to be mocked. There’s actually a plan for the national […]
Gordon Campbell on UE pass rates and university dropout rates
Houston, there is clearly a problem with (a) the plunge in pass rates for University Entrance qualifications, which has been especially steep among Maori students […]
Gordon Campbell on the farcical elevation of David Seymour
With the election won, it’s time to find jobs for the boy. David Seymour is the Act Party’s latest scrounger to be rewarded by the […]
Gordon Campbell on Winston Peters’ latest bout of immigrant bashing, and Bob Dylan in the basement (again)
So in the latest 3News-Reid Research poll, New Zealand First and the Conservatives have been the big winners. It is only one poll, but rather […]
Gordon Campbell on the usual round of mud slinging and name-calling
The media, as its critics regularly point out, is far too easily diverted by political sideshows and slanging matches, from its duty to cover the […]
On the Cabinet reshuffle
There are not many problems in life where “Bring back Nick Smith!” seems like an ideal solution. Nor will the public be inclined to think […]
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle By Gordon Campbell Of all the ways of trying to save “up to” $60-70 million – and […]
On the government’s new PPP deal in education
Supposedly, the big advantage of public/private partnerships is that they will bring the alleged efficiencies of the private sector to projects that involve public money […]
On charter schools, and DoL backdown at Pike River
Years ago and in a more innocent time, whenever advertising agencies wanted to spice up a product for local consumers they would use the word […]
On taking the fall for Anne Tolley
Anyone looking for a textbook case of the apparent politicisation of the public service need look no further than the case of former Northland kura […]
On charter schools
Since its inception. Act has been the party of American Crackpot Theories, so we should probably be thankful that the coalition agreement between Act Party […]
On child poverty
Last night, if you missed Bryan Bruce’s brilliant TV3 documentary on child poverty in New Zealand –or would like your relatives and friends to see […]
On evidence that New Zealand is a more socially just society than Australia
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Before this election campaign began, there was a lot of angst about our income gap with Australia. We will […]
On John Key’s Assault On The Welfare System
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com If John Key is the face of moderation, there’s not much room left on the margins for the extremism […]
On Bill English’s attempt to politicize the earthquake response, plus the Rugby World Cup
Images: People Gather at Parliament for Moment of Silence Much of the inspirational rhetoric surrounding the Christchurch earthquake has had a genuine “We’re all in […]
On New Zealand’s links with Muammar Ghaddafi
As Libya’s dictator Muammar Ghadaffi continues to murder and terrorise his people in an attempt to cling onto power, surely Education Minister Anne Tolley will […]
On Sir Peter Gluckman, and the government’s science package for business
So far, at least two isotopes of the government’s chief science advisor Sir Peter Gluckman have been isolated, and identified. The commonly observed variant – […]
On the Wellywood sign (& Education Cuts)
As the Facebook critics of the Wellywood sign have pointed out, it is pretty hard to see the logic of promoting the creativity of the […]