Letters scathing of National Standards

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The parents in charge of 48 different school boards have written to the Government at a rate of more than one a week complaining about aspects of the National Standards, newly released documents reveal.

Labour's Trevor Mallard is expected to attack Education Minister Anne Tolley in Parliament this afternoon over the record.

Mallard has released to Stuff letters obtained under the Official Information Act from the boards of 50 different schools.

Of the 50 school boards, 48 expressed varying degrees of concern about the national standards. Only one expressed full support and one simply asked for more information. The letters were received between July last year and mid-May this year.

"You say this is what parents want but I'm wondering what parents you are referring to, [because it is] not anyone I talk to," one letter from a parent states.

National Standards were implemented in primary and intermediate schools this year. All children aged five to 12 are ranked at above, below or well below national benchmarks in reading, writing and maths.

Tolley has continually batted away criticism of the standards, arguing that it is motivated by the vested, political, interests of teacher unions.

The release of new papers from the parents who run 50 of the nation's primary school boards appear to challenge that notion, however.

Among the correspondence, Dennis Matiu, chairman of Horeke School in Northland wrote to advise that his school would not be implementing the standards.

"We, like many others in our region, are concerned that national standards have continued to be introduced despite overwhelming opposition from educators," Matiu wrote.

"We are totally opposed to using these standards in our school and are therefore returning our school's initial distribution of copies."

Another, Janice Bromell, who was chairperson of the Tahunanui School in Nelson, complained that one-and-a-half months after sending a letter to Prime Minister John Key outlining concerns about the standards, they had heard nothing in response.

"This process was supposed to simplify reporting to parents, not add confusion," Bromell wrote.

Jonathan Spencer, the chairperson of the Mangorei School board of trustees, in New Plymouth, wrote "to express alarm at the unseemly haste with which National Standards are being introduced".

The board of Poroti School in Whangarei wrote in a joint letter of "deep concern and opposition to the National Standards regime".

And the chairman of Weston School in North Otago, Russell Bryant, wrote of concerns about a lack of resources to get the standards to work.

"We are particularly concerned about the lack of information/resources being offered by the Government to support schools with such a major shift in education philosophy," Bryant wrote.

Tolley has pointed to support from the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) as evidence of parental backing for the standards.

However, Lauren Hudson, the chair of Taikura Rudolf Steiner School wrote complaining that although her school was an NZSTA member, it had not been contacted to say whether or not it supported the standards.

"At no point was this school consulted with by the STA concerning support of its new legislation, yet the STA arbitrarily chose to support it," Hudson wrote.

While the letters suggest resistance to the standards, there are more than 2000 primary school boards in New Zealand and some are known to support the policy.

Tolley has previously pointed to a Nielsen survey which said 73 per cent of parents are in favour of the National Standards and 13 per cent have yet to make up their minds.

"We know that parents want the plain language reporting on their child's progress that National Standards will deliver at least twice a year," she has said.

At the order of Key, Tolley embarked on a charm offensive over the standards earlier this year, hosting community meetings around the country.

- © Fairfax NZ News