Rotherham Watch: What does he like about Sir Michael?

What does Andy like about Sir Michael Barber?

Andy is back. And he wants us to read the NY Times piece by Sam Dillon on Tony Blair’s education advisor, Sir Michael Barber.
But he doesn’t say why?

First you need to know that Sir Michael is now in the United States as a consultant for McKinsey and Company.

You may remember McKinsey and Company when they were the chief consulting firm for Enron. McKinsey recruited for Enron their top executives. You can visit those top execs now if you sign in, don’t mind being frisked or talking through two inches of glass on a phone.

When it comes to school reform here is what Sir Michael likes:

• South Korea pays its teachers much more than England and America in exchange for larger class sizes.

• He claims Finland recruits top-tier college graduates to the profession “not with huge paychecks, but by fostering exceptionally high public respect for teachers.” I’m not sure what that means but Sir Michael is selling a book, so we all can read about it.

• Under Mr. Blair, Sir Michael said, Britain attracted more talented young teaching candidates by offering stipends of £7,000, or about $14,000, for college graduates undergoing a year of teacher training. The government set up a national curriculum to govern such training and started a nationwide public relations campaign aimed at persuading prospective teachers that society would value their work, he said.

Dillon reports that Sir Michael’s book is a favorite of NY school chancellor Klein.

So what do they like about Sir Michael’s views? High pay? Larger classes? National curriculum? Or the promise that society will value teachers’ work?

Did I tell you that Sir Michael now works for Enron’s consulting company? Oh, yeh. I did.