A Nation Finds Ways To Tie Itself In Knots

YESTERDAY was not an auspicious day for Australian federalism. The ideas of the federal Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, on merit pay for teachers have gone completely by the board at the meeting of state and federal education ministers in Darwin. And the national curriculum is out, too, though the ministers involved did not put it that way. Instead they announced they would be working towards a nationally consistent set of curriculums, and a national benchmarking authority. That sounds ...