Kylie the Boss

We’ve just read that Kylie White, who has been acting CEO of VCAA this year, has been appointed to be the real, grown up CEO. This is very good news.

It is redundant, of course, to note that Kylie has been an improvement over VCAA’s previous CEO. Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat would have been an improvement over Greasy Steve. But Kylie seems to us to be genuinely good. From the get-go, she has appeared to be working hard to implement both the letter and the spirit of the Bennett recommendations. We have met Kylie a few times over the last months and she seems honest and intelligent, notably more interested in listening than in talking. Kylie may not be the education crusader of which one may dream, but she seems to be calm, dedicated and principled, exactly what is required in such a position.

And so, with Kylie at the helm, our worries are over. The World is at peace and we can retire to the lawn bowls.

Hardly.

There are still irritants from pre-Bennett, which will seemingly remain as irritants. And, much more importantly, there is still plenty wrong and plenty that can still go wrong. There is reason to hope that the VCE exams will be better written and less prone to howlers but the VCE curriculum is still a mishmosh of nothingness. The VCE support materials are still bad, and badly wrong. CAS is still a perversion. SACs are still shit, and are still the fiefdom of little Hitler lords. How much Kylie is aware of any of this, we have no idea. And, even if aware, how much of it Kylie can or is willing to take on, is a very big open question. The state of the wider world means that none of it is easy.

Beyond Kylie’s immediate VCAA realm, the education faculties and ITE are still disasters. ACARA is still a basket case and the Australian F-10 curriculum is still thin, revolting gruel. The education world is still dominated by half-wits thinking quarter-thoughts, who are ready and able to trip up any serious attempts at thoughtful reform. There will be no free kicks.

Still, good news is good news. It is not common and it should be celebrated when it is there to be celebrated. Kylie White’s appointment as VCAA’s CEO is very good news.