Friday 17 May 2013

DOWN TO THE DOCTOR’S: “Oh teachers are my lessons done? I cannot do another one.”

_McGrath001This week, Libz leader Dr Richard McGrath wonders what about registering a teacher makes them safe?

Boyish Labour MP and teachers' pet Chris Hipkins seems convinced that if teachers in charter schools aren't registered, children will be at risk and the sky will fall. 

I thank him for his concern. We can all be reassured that where a teacher is registered and under scrutiny of the Teachers Council, our children will be secure...

Registered teacher James Parker admitted at least 74 charges of sexual offending young boys. He is still on the register of teachers.

On January 16 this year, registered teacher Douglas Haora Martin pleaded guilty to making upskirt videos of 17 unsuspecting young women and girls. Despite resigning from Lincoln High School on January 24, the Teachers Council kept him on their register until April 13..

Registered teacher Andrew Loader paid to watch two teenagers having sex, breaking the law because one of them was only aged 16. Could this be the same Andrew Loader who is still listed on the Register of Teachers with expiry in September 2015?

Registered teacher Nova Camp stole $40,000 from Takapuna Grammar Rowing Club, and remains on the Register of Teachers until February 2015.

A registered teacher who tried to arrange to have per school principal “capped”- and whose identity the Teachers Council won't reveal - is considered safe to continue to teach children.

Being a registered teacher did not prevent former deputy principal Norman Foote from sexually abusing a girl from the time she was a child.

A registered teacher - again with name kept secret by the teachers disciplinary committee - admitted having sex with one of her male staff members, signing off the bill for a phone from which he used to ring the TAB, and endorsing his registration despite knowing he was being investigated by CYFS for alleged assault..

Registered teacher Kevin Fraser Keys admitted sexually assaulting and photographing a boy under the age of 16. Oh look, he's still on the Register of Teachers until January 2015. 

Registered teacher Damian Christopher Gillard was charged last year with sexual offences against seven young women.

Registered teacher Rene Alan Chalmers, alleged to have stolen more than $800,000, remains on the register 'subject to confirmation' until June 2015.

And these are just the teachers who didn’t make it into parliament on the Labour list…

So I'm confused. Could Chris Hipkins please explain again just why it is so vital that teachers in charter schools be registered?  How does he think merely being placed on a state register guarantees their safety.

Because it seems the Register of Teachers is beginning to resemble Deborah Coddington's Paedophile and Sex Offender Index more than anything on which any decent person would wish to rely. It's beyond me why Hipkins or anyone else should want to protect these predators and deviants from competition.

Could it be because of some tie-in between teacher unions and the Labour Party? If so, in accepting contributions from teacher unions, the Labour Party is being financed indirectly by kiddy-fiddlers, rapists, would-be murderers and peeping toms. That's real class.

See you next week!
Doc McGrath

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is similar to your Muslim post.

Being passionate about ideas, like Mr Cresswell, is a lot different to being a mouth-foaming paranoiac; like yourself.

You should read the new bestseller "How to Tell if Your Cat is Trying to Kill You"

Just don't take it literally.



Richard McGrath said...

@Anonymous: At least I put my real name to my opinions, unlike yourself - and do you really think someone as paranoid as you claim I am would do that?

With what part of the past do you take issue? Do you not believe that all but one of the teachers mentioned by name are still on the Register of Teachers? You can easily check the facts for yourself.

I have merely pointed out the obvious - that registration of teachers does not make children "safe" and that Chris Hipkins is disingenuous at best (if not a liar).

Richard McGrath said...

Furthermore, Anon, aren't you just the slightest bit appalled by the actions of these duly registered teachers? Doesn't it make you question just how rigorous the registration and re-registration process is, and why teachers who are convicted of preying on children aren't deregistered immediately?

Anonymous said...

Richard

" Doesn't it make you question just how rigorous the registration and re-registration process is, and why teachers who are convicted of preying on children aren't deregistered immediately? "

Yes it makes me wonder.

Registration does not make children safe. It is not supposed to. It is there to protect the teachers and the guild they are all into. pecial privileges and all that.

Amit Cim





LudditeJourno said...

"Doesn't it make you question just how rigorous the registration and re-registration process is, and why teachers who are convicted of preying on children aren't deregistered immediately?"

Yes. What it doesn't make me want to do is argue for no controls over adults who have access to children in our charter schools.

Richard McGrath said...

"What it doesn't make me want to do is argue for no controls over adults who have access to children in our charter schools."

No controls? What would make anyone think there would be no controls over teachers in charter schools? I imagine there would be frequent surveillance of teachers, and any that didn't measure up would be sent packing. Charter schools would sink or swim on exam results and popularity with parents and pupils.

There will be plenty of control over teachers in charter schools. Only it won't come from the paedophile-protecting Teachers Council.

MarkT said...

Richard - I agree with your conclusion around charter schools, but I don't think this makes the case. You can pick any profession and you will probably find a small minority of thieves or perverts, but that doesn't tell you anything about the professional bodies they operate under. They can't control every aspect of an individuals behaviour - which I suppose is sorta your point - but I don't think the other side would claim that anyway.

They would argue that registration ensures a certain level of teacher professionalism for the large majority of teachers, within the limits of what they can reasonably control - and that charter schools won't have that same quality control.

I'm not saying this argument is right, but that's the point that's got to be addressed. Cherry picking extremely bad teachers who are operating on either side proves nothing.

Anonymous said...

"They would argue that registration ensures a certain level of teacher professionalism for the large majority of teachers, within the limits of what they can reasonably control - and that charter schools won't have that same quality control."

They can argue BUT teh truth is that the "teacher professionalism" they are defending includes an awful lot of child abusing.

What they can reasonably control is who is on THEIR list of the registered. If they become aware that a teacher has been publically found guilty of doing child abuse, surely they can immediately rescind that pervert's registration... They don't though.

I met people of the Charter Schools movement and it is true, they do not have the same quality control. You would have to hope that they didn't. After all, there are too many perberts registered as teachers who remain registered even after being found criminally guilty. We would expect the quality control of the charter schools to be somewhat different.....wouldn't we?

Amit Cim






dictated
AC; kgh

Richard McGrath said...

@Mark - point taken about the cherry picking which I freely admit to, but which was done to demonstrate the fallibility of the current system.

There's no reason why the teachers in chartered schools couldn't start their own registration and recertification process outside of the current state-backed monopoly.

The same thing has happened in my own field, medicine, where an organisation called BPAC has a recertification process, for doctors who practice in a general scope, that competes with the government-favoured Royal College of General Practitioners.