Another year, another education shake-up

It’s hard to know where to start with Brown’s latest plans for schools.

Giving parents more power in schools has been a constant refrain from Labour, particularly since it fought the last election on choice in public services. Unsurprisingly the reality has never quite matched the rhetoric. The last education shake-up was supposed to make it easier for parents to start schools, trigger inspections etc but there has been no obvious revolution in state education as a result.

Next month another education white paper will be produced – there is no apparent need for one but Labour seems to be taking the same view of education as it does criminal justice – the regular production of white papers and Bills is more important than whether they actually serve any purpose. If today’s reports are to be believed it will include more powers for parents including the absurd idea that a parent can demand action at a school their children don’t even attend (begging the question on what basis they will be judging that school?). This time it will be LEAs responding to parents’ desire for action, rather than Ofsted – marking yet another swing in the pendulum in Labour’s enthusiasm for LEAs. Traditionally, Labour has seen local authorities as essential in the delivery of state education. Then the Blair years saw them become the bogeyman obstacle to progress – independence for schools and direct funding from Whitehall became the mantra. In the last Education Bill they became commissioners of education rather than direct providers but then when Brown took over in Downing Street talk of independent state schools withered and now LEAs are sponsoring city academies – the class of school originally created to bypass LEAs. Now they are once again to be the arbiter of standards.

As for parental influence on education, the last word should go to Boris Johnson who gave this answer in the recent Spectator coverage of his first anniversary as London Mayor.

"As a ‘father’, I don’t want to waste my time at some blooming consultation with the teachers, jostling for attention with a load of sharp-elbowed mums. I don’t want to have ‘control’ over my kids’ education. I want the teachers to have control. They already have the government telling them what they can and can’t do to a degree that is utterly absurd and humiliating, and contrary to their vocation as teachers. The last thing they need is to share their dwindling prerogatives with a load of ghastly and ill-informed parents. If you mean, should parents be more free to choose their kids’ schools, then yes, by all means — but the choice will be pretty meaningless until you bring back academic selection."