League tables - National's divide and rule plan for schools

The Government's idea of league tables is designed to divide and rule by pitting parents against parents, and parents against teachers, the Green Party said today.

John Key yesterday said he was open to the idea of league tables for primary schools, which will inevitably be based on national standards.

"League tables strike at the heart of equality, as they lead inevitably to more 'white flight' from lower decile schools, pitting parents against each other in a way that threatens to ghettoise school communities," Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said.

"This is a cynical move to divide the education community which came together over class sizes and which, united, poses a threat to the National Party's education agenda.

"But it won't work.

"National standards don't provide enough data for a parent to make an effective judgement about the quality of a school

"This Government says its agenda is to improve teacher quality, but in the wake of the class size debacle this will further alienate the profession.

"The last thing talented graduates will want to be is a teacher if they know they will be undermined and treated with suspicion by the Government.

"John Key has said he wants agreement from the sector before any official league tables are put together. The sector has already expressed deep concern about any form of league table, and the Green Party challenges Mr Key to act on those concerns," Ms Delahunty said.