KEY POINTS:
So what is new in the National Party saying it will make all primary schools test their pupils' literacy and numeracy against national standards?
Re-reading National's 2005 election manifesto, the answer is not terribly much. The difference is that while such talk has been heard from National before,
it has not been heard from John Key.
It is significant that National's new leader should focus on education standards as the theme for his second major speech of the year. With the debate over the adequacy of the NCEA bubbling along, yesterday's speech is well-timed. But it had been scheduled long before that debate erupted.
Mr Key intends taking the fight to Labour on fronts where Labour has long held the advantage, education being but one example.
While yesterday's speech produced a ho-hum reaction from education lobby groups and other political parties claiming what he was floating was already being done, Mr Key is seeking to position himself as the advocate for parents by "putting parents back into the education loop".
Under Don Brash, National stressed "choice" as the solution for parents unhappy with the education their children are getting - principally through market solutions such as relaxing school zoning restrictions or promoting private or integrated schools.
While zoning is a hot topic in Auckland, it is of little relevance to voters around the rest of the country.
Mr Key realises that for most parents there is no choice other than the local primary school. As consumers, they do not want choice. They simply want the product to be better.
He therefore hits a sensitive political nerve in middle New Zealand when he says schools are not reporting information about children's achievement to parents in a meaningful way; that some school reports read like real estate advertisements in focusing solely on a child's positives; and that National would require "upfront" school reports for parents on progress in the basics.
The other rationale for his speech is that the building blocks of education are fundamental if a government is really serious about lifting New Zealand to the next level of economic growth.
Key cannot gamble on there being a slump in the economy to power National to victory next year. He has to assume economic conditions will remain benign.
National has to lift voters sights beyond what Labour is doing with its "economic transformation" policies and persuade people that with National's policy mix, New Zealand can do even better.
However, the country cannot do that if basic standards are falling, and there is large "tail of under-achievement" which stops pupils getting the qualifications they need.
In that regard, education is as vital as tax and welfare incentives in getting the correct policy mix to lift economic performance.
The test for Mr Key is to draw these strands together in a single powerful message - that testing of primary school children is not only in parents' interests, it is also in the national interest.
