Up the workers!

Teachers want to get rid of SATS tests - the Government want to keep them. Yet another example of those who actually do the job and have to live with the consequences being at loggerheads with those who make decisions affecting them from afar. There's an old management adage that decisions should be taken at "the lowest level of competence". There are two good reasons for this. The first is financial - it saves highly paid people wasting their time (and their employer's money) making decisions which could just as easily be made by someone lower down the chain. But also, it almost certainly makes for better decision making if those making the decisions are actually involved in having to carry them out. Government take note!