Conservatives ‘to rush in new law on academies
Posted By admin on March 2, 2010
The Conservatives say they would change the law within days of winning a general election to allow hundreds more schools in England to become academies.
Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said a new education bill would remove the need for schools to consult local councils before becoming independent.
It would also exempt the best schools from Ofsted inspections to allow the watchdog to focus on problem schools.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said he wanted to focus on cutting class sizes.
Academies receive state funding, but control over how that money is spent rests with those in charge of the individual school.
Mr Gove, along with party leader David Cameron, told a meeting of head teachers that if the Tories won the general election, expected in May, a new education bill would be on the statute book by July.
This, he said, would allow schools to opt out of council control and become academies by September.
“If we win the election, we will act within days to raise standards,” he said.
“We need a new generation of independent state schools run by teachers who know your child’s name, not by politicians.”
He also announced plans to reform Ofsted and identify the 100 worst performing schools in England and place them in the hands of “school leaders with a proven track record of success”.
“Learning from practitioners in the field, trusting professionals rather than ideology and accentuating that what happens in the best should happen in all that are at the heart of our policy,” he added.
Mr Gove later told the BBC that schools graded “outstanding” by Ofsted would be exempt from future inspections.
“The critical thing is that if things go wrong, if alarm bells start ringing, if there’s a high staff turnover or if a great head leaves… we can signal to the inspectors that they should go in.
“But if a school continues to be outstanding why should it be bothered with bureaucracy?”
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