Teachers' council with clout

By Audrey Young

Labour wants to turn the teacher registration board into a professional council with powers like the Medical and Nursing Councils.

Leader Helen Clark told teachers yesterday that such a council would give real professional leadership.

"It will be the body which says yes or no to whether a teaching qualification can be registerable and meet the requirements of the qualifications framework."

Helen Clark was speaking to staff at the Southern Cross Campus in Mangere, a composite bulkfunded school of 1325, formed from the former Nga Tapuwae College, Mangere Intermediate and Southern Cross Primary School.

She congratulated the staff and former Auckland Grammar head John Graham, who was brought in to restructure the schools.

The campus has just been given a tick by the Education Review Office. "It's a fantastic turnaround," Helen Clark said.

The school would not be disadvantaged under Labour's plans to abolish bulk-funding.

Southern Cross, as a low-decile school, would benefit from the redistribution among schools of the money budgeted for bulk-funding.