Labour’s plan to water down academy freedoms is an “act of vandalism” that could cut 20,000 teachers’ pay, Conservatives have warned amid growing criticism of the schools bill to be debated by MPs today. Sir Nick Gibb, the former schools minister, this week urged Labour to abandon plans 鈥渄riven by ideological hostility to academies鈥 While the Tory veteran鈥檚 criticism is not unexpected, he is just the latest to publicly raise concerns over proposals set out in the children鈥檚 wellbeing and schools bill. will make all academies follow the national curriculum, allow councils to open schools again and end the automatic academisation of failing schools. Trust bosses have already voiced their misgivings, with national newspapers also starting to criticise the government鈥檚 academy plans. For instance, the Economist ran a piece headlined: 鈥楲abour lacks good ideas for improving Britain’s schools鈥. The criticism comes as the bill is due to be debated in parliament this afternoon. Reforms risk league table progress, says Gibb England鈥檚 pupils have risen up international league tables in recent years, including becoming the 鈥渂est in the West鈥 for reading. Gibb, , said Labour would 鈥渞everse some of the most important elements鈥 of the reforms he believes are behind the rise. Bridget Phillipson He said education secretary Bridget Phillipson has 鈥渃learly been hanging out with the wrong crowd. Her bill sides firmly with the 鈥榩rogressivist鈥 approach promoted for years by teaching unions and many university education faculties.鈥 The bill will also force academies to follow national pay scales for teachers. 鈥淔or many teachers in academies who are paid above those rates this could mean less pay in the long run,鈥 Gibb claimed. He also criticised giving councils the power to force schools to expand and stop 鈥榞ood鈥 schools from growing if it 鈥減resents a competitive challenge to weaker schools in the area鈥, and the ending of the free schools programme. 鈥淩ather than build on this legacy, in the way that the Blair government built on previous Conservative reforms, Phillipson has been clear that there will be no new free schools created while she鈥檚 in post.鈥 ‘An act of vandalism’ But the 鈥渕ost damaging aspect鈥 of Labour鈥檚 reforms is scrapping Ofsted headline grades and not automatically converting failing schools into academies. 鈥淭his policy has turned around scores of schools that had been failing for decades,鈥 he added. He said the policy was an 鈥渁ct of vandalism, driven by ideological hostility to academies and a failure to learn lessons from cognitive science or the best performing countries. Phillipson has said the bill will deliver a 鈥渃hild-centred government, with better protections for young people and real join up between children鈥檚 social care, schools and local services. 鈥淎longside further measures to drive high and rising standards in our schools, this bill will deliver on this government鈥檚 plan for change, so that all children, whatever their circumstances, can achieve and thrive.鈥 Labour is trying to resolve systemic problems, including child poverty, stubbornly-high school absence, rising numbers of children educated outside of school, the special needs crisis and teacher recruitment woes. But reformers are concerned the changes to academies 鈥 which for a decade have been the government鈥檚 preferred enablers of school improvement 鈥 could hit standards. Caution over PISA results Asked about rising standards in international league tables last year, the government鈥檚 standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins sounded caution. 鈥淏e really careful with PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) data. Our raw scores haven鈥檛 changed that much. We鈥檝e got practice we should be proud of, but we鈥檝e also got pockets that we should be ashamed of. 鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely unacceptable that, if you鈥檙e a boy from a working-class community in the north east or north west, your prospects are so much worse.” Also, despite rising standards, PISA 2022 found pupils in England are less happy than their counterparts elsewhere. Around half of pupils in England (48 per cent) rated their overall life satisfaction as 7 or more (out of 10), compared to 61 per cent across other countries. Tories table bill amendment The Conservative front bench will this afternoon seek to amend the bill to decline to give it a second reading, 鈥渂ecause it undermines the long-standing combination of school freedom and accountability that has led to educational standards rising in England鈥. The bill also 鈥渆ffectively abolishes academy freedoms which have been integral to that success and is regressive in approach, leading to worse outcomes for pupils鈥. Ending freedom over pay and conditions will also make it 鈥渉arder to attract and retain good teachers鈥, they said. The party said its analysis had found that just those academies already known to be using pay freedoms employed over 20,000 teachers. Shadow minister Neil O鈥橞rien said Labour鈥檚 approach 鈥渨ill lead to pay cuts for good teachers, ends the vital requirement to turn failing schools over to new management, and will enable local authorities to share out pupils from good schools to prop up poor ones鈥.
Geeperz 11 January 2025 After 14 years plus of Tory wholesale destruction in the education sector on the standards of life for teachers both in the workplace and out, I think anything that they say should be taken with an industrial size pinch of salt. I’m telling anyone that considers their own health to be important, “Do not join!”