Hart! I want to see you in my office. Now!
Yes, Mr Counsell.
Did you devote even a second’s thought to the construction of this ‘analogy’ of yours?
“Giving more power to those parents who lack responsibility is like putting an alcoholic in charge of a bar.”
No, Mr Counsell. I just thought it would make a good soundbite, sir.
Hart, Do irresponsible parents consume education to excess?
No, Mr Counsell.
Would such a parent placed in charge of a school educate his or her children until they were unconscious?
No, Mr Counsell.
Is there a state-run chain of bars in England and Wales set up so that drinkers can only drink at the bar nearest to their home (unless it’s a good one of course) and have no choice about what drinks they buy and how they are mixed unless they are part of a minority of the population lucky enough to be able to afford a house near a good bar or the membership fees of an extremely expensive private drinking club?
No, Mr Counsell.
Go away and write out a thousand times:
“An ideologically-driven system of state schooling unsupported by rigorous scientific research and sponsored by an educational establishment wilfully indifferent to statistical evidence has deprived generations of learning.
If it continues to be more concerned with political correctness than with the development of intellectual potential—let alone the promotion of literacy, numeracy, and elementary critical thinking—yet more millions of minds will be wasted.
How can we expect parents and children to respect the demands of scholarship when ‘educationalists’ do not?”
Mr Counsell?
Yes, Hart?
Can I have my £90 000 salary now, please?
Get out, Hart!
PG, as usual you have made my day.
But if you have a low opinion of our shameful state schooling system, how come you’re out canvassing for the philistines who reduced it to its present condition?
David Hart has never taught in his life. He trained as a solicitor before joining the NAHT in an advisory capacity in 1964. He was appointed General Secretary in 1978.
Throughout his career in the NAHT he has shown nothing but disdain for the classroom teacher, considering Headteachers to be a class above the rest. He will not be missed!
dearieme wrote:
You mean Margaret Thatcher and Shirley Williams, the goddesses of the rich and stupid? [Follow the link to read the last third of a post by Oliver Kamm and my comment immediately beneath it.] Last time I checked, Thatcher was a Tory and Williams a Liberal Democrat; I’m still a member of the Labour Party—and I’m prouder of that fact than for a long time.
No, as you well know I meant the Labour Party and Mr Tony Crossland who famously boasted that he was going to close “every fucking grammar school”.
Oops: Crosland?
Wow,
I just read your comments there on Oliver Kamm. Once again, I say, Wow!
I’ve been dwelling on this quite a bit because we are genuinely worried for our daughter’s education. Although I may make a comfy “middle class” salary, I was a bit too into being in my 20s (and moving countries) to get on the “housing ladder” back then, so I won’t be able to afford a house nor a private educayshun for the daughter. Live and learn.
We may end up going to the US to get a decent state education for her. If we keep renting here and saving any extra money, we’ll probably be able to buy a mansion on a large plot of land with cash in the States in about 5 years. I will gladly stack my bog standard high school education in the then-49th ranked state against that on offer at most comprehensives.
It seems that some things are the same on both sides of the pond.