It is one of the peculiar contradictions of Thatcherite Toryism that while extolling the virtues of localism and individual responsibility, it is at the same time probably the most centralising political movement in our history. So while Academies appear to remove schools from the petty interference of local education authorities, they actually fall under the control of central government. As originally conceived they were to be few and far between, designed to fill a gap in deprived and difficult areas where a fresh approach to enhance educational opportunity was called for.
Now they appear to be the preferred option, giving the government an ever larger say in the format of schools, whilst at the same time giving greater authority to teachers. This can work well but equally it can work very badly, especially if some specialised religious or other nostrum guides the leadership and sets the rules. The truth is that good schools can be found with all kinds of organisational structures, even the maligned comprehensive, and bad ones can be found even in smart new academies.
The decision of the government to interpret a very weak mandate supported by less than a quarter of those entitled to vote, as the green light to do whatever it fancies is a mistake and particularly so in education. The proposal to end the appeal process to challenge the conversion of a local authority school into an academy is wholly wrong. However annoying, it is the price you pay for democracy guiding the hand of the state when public funds pay the bills.
If there were incontrovertible evidence that academies always outperform local authority schools there may be an argument for ending appeals, though not in the view of the blog, a case for doing do. But this is just not so. Very good schools exist in all formats and depend on leadership, teacher quality and parental support. New academies can appear to surge, but some at least then falter because the causes of the trouble lie in the environment in which its pupils live, not in the school itself. Nicky Morgan, with her youthful energy and enthusiasm bringing a breath of fresh air to the education scene, needs to stop and think again.
