Key's gay gaffe is intolerable!--Foot and mouth disease?

There is a tendency in school for young people to use the word ‘gay’ as some sort of putdown or negative descriptor. That out Prime Minister uses it as a joke is a terrible example of insensitivity from the person who leads us. It may have been a slip of the tongue, but surely he must know the effect of such throw away comments can have on those young people who are struggling with their sexual identity.

When they hear the PM of the country using such terminology, it must send them back into that dark place, where they have been trying to exit. All the work of teachers, nurses, youth workers and councillors, comes to naught when we witness such stupid and careless use of language.

This, from a man who visits the ‘Big Gay Out;’ perhaps in a cynical attempt to be ‘gay friendly.’ It won’t wash Mr Key. Are we seeing the real ‘you?’
I Watched mr Key's response to some questions from journalists and I would say that he regrets making the throw away comment, but does he really understand the affect such utterings have on young people. His only concern is that he may lose a few votes.

Parents and teachers should unite against this attack on education!

The National Party is now really showing its true colours when it comes to education. The gloves are off. Unless teachers and parents form a solid coalition, all that has been gained for our students and education in general will be whittled away. Hardly a week goes by when there is not some sort of attack on teachers, ‘realignment’ or cutting of funds.

The latest announcement that two Special Schools will be closed is just one of many such moves. They are playing two cards; one economic---that is to cut government spending and the other is ideological. The National Party has an agenda; one that includes Charters Schools and diverting funding to the ‘Old Boy Network’ of private schools.

The only way that we can stop these damaging moves is for parents and teachers to stand together and fight. In the end, it is only at the ballot box that any real difference can be made.

That the National party has not fallen in the polls is only an encouragement for them to follow through with even more of their destructive policies. What we cannot be sure about of course is that the Labour Party and its possible coalition partners will be able to turn back the clock when they eventually get their chance to reside on the Treasury benches.

One gets the feeling that Ms Parata is the ‘fall guy’ for National/Act policies and to a lesser extent the Maori Party. That they have allowed their vote to be used to prop up this Government as it passes contentious policies through Parliament will bring a time of reckoning with their own people.

In the meantime, we need to take every opportunity to at least slow down the march towards some sort of Third World Educational system. In the end, we all suffer as we enter a hard new world where our kids have missed out, especially those at the bottom of the economic heap. The days of a fair New Zealand have long gone.

How can the Government justify spending $3 on a private school?

Wanganui  Collegiate has a long and proud history. It has even had royalty attend in the past. Why is it that it needs a government hand-out of $3 million dollars; money that the Government is happy to spend, while at the same time cutting two Special Education schools? That money would have gone quite away in meeting any deficit those schools were having.

Perhaps we should, not be surprised as we have seen this happen quite a lot under the various National Governments. They cut from Sate schools and give to their mates in the private sector. Where is the fairness on this approach? It merely represents their bias towards the rich.

The Minister of Education, Hekia Parata has been loud in her calls to raise Maori and Pacific learning. How does this latest move tie in with that aim? It is a cynical hand-out to the ‘friends of the national Party;’ the ‘Good old boys network.’

That the National Party and John Key still enjoy high ratings in the political polls is quite beyond me. It reflects an unknowing and uncaring attitude on the part of many ‘middle New Zealanders.’ It feels like we need a good deal more unfair and unequal actions on the part of the Government before the majority of the population will be moved to act---at the ballot box. In the meantime the Government is steadily dismantling a once proud and fair education system. Their moves in education are mirrored in other areas of NZ society. Pray that 2014 comes fast and the damage can be undone---once again at a cost. The gift to Wanganui Collegiate is just the tip of an advancing iceberg.