MM> VH> The problem we have is that in many cases the teachers come from the
MM> VH> same ethnic background, and lack the skills or desire to actually
MM> VH> teach.

MM>Not a common problem in New Zealand ... I hope.

Schools have become "employers" -- and that means their mission no
longer to educate, but to provide jobs.

MM> MM> VH> Our problem here is that the
MM> MM> VH> worst schools are in the worst areas.  Well-paid
MM> MM> VH> teachers don't want to
MM> MM> VH> live in those areas.

MM>Ours tend to commute by car from their home suburb to the work
MM>school;  some of ex-staff now drive across the metropolis some 40
MM>or 50kms to serve in `deprived' areas...

We're a larger country -- so while it is possible in some areas for the
affluent and the poor to live cheek-by-jowl, in other areas there would
be very long drives for a teacher from, say west Little Rock to
commute to Helena.

MM> VH> I wish we could do that.  Unfortunately, we can't keep
MM> VH> teachers under those conditions.

MM> I guess we have blessings here, because of our small 4.2m
MM>population, that we never, ever think of....

Small and homogenous can be great advantages.
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