Only 35 schools out of 2000 take up Gove’s school bribe?
Results of a survey passed to the Anti Academy Alliance suggest that only 35 schools have decided to enter in to a Faustian pact with Michael Gove by taking up his offer of a fast track to academy status.
If this is true, it is a welcome set-back to the Con Dem government’s plans to dismantle locally supported comprehensive state education and create in its place a socially divisive hierarchy of academy, “free” and second-class schools, with its upper tiers accountable only to Michael Gove himself.
Academies: My school blazer costs £90
By Joshua Rooney
Gordon Brown and Ed Balls at the City of London Academy
From 2004 to 2008, I attended the City of London Academy in Southwark, one of four Academies sponsored by the Corporation of London; the others are in Camden, Islington, and Hackney. The main subject focus of the school was therefore Business studies, regardless of the fact that it was neither a required curriculum subject nor students’ desire to actually study business, and students were also required to take the mandatory Business GCSE, again, regardless of student needs or wants.
In addition to the educational favouritism, the school also had a token amount of students who actually lived in the City, and they were provided with minibuses to ferry them to and from school every day, whilst non City students had to take public transport – even when it was quite late at night after clubs and detentions, there was no consideration for the younger students who were made to travel on buses through rough areas as late as 9PM. Uniforms were also expensive, up to £90 for a blazer, and a requirement for leather shoes, once again, not a problem for the City kids, but a large investment for the families of students in poorer areas which made up about 95% of the school population, including myself.
Can Diane Abbott be Leader of the Labour Party?
A guest post by Kwaw Nelson
So at the eleventh hour, Diane Abbott MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington squeaked through the nominations process and made it on to the final short list of contenders for the leadership of the Labour Party. But did she do it on merit and she is capable of being leader of the Labour Party?
These are provocative questions and especially so because Diane Abbott is black. But they are also legitimate questions given Diane Abbott’s record as a parliamentarian over some 23 years.
The Islamic case for Academies – “Free our schools!”
At The Multicultural Politic, we want to stimulate debate and give a voice to those who aren’t usually given time by the mainstream media. Though the editorial team disagrees with the idea of Academies, debates cannot be had if only one point of view is published. We have and will continue to publish anti-Academy articles but today we have decided to publish this pro-Academy article. Leave your comments below.
This is a guest post by Iftikhar Ahmad
Almost all children now believe they go to school to pass exams. The idea that they may be there for an education is irrelevant. State schools have become exam factories, interested only in A to C Grades. They do not educate children. Exam results do not reflect a candidate’s innate ability. Employers have moaned for years that too many employees cannot read or write properly. According to a survey, school-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. More and more companies are having to provide remedial training to new staff, who can’t write clear instructions, do simple maths, or solve problems. Both graduates and school-leavers were also criticised for their sloppy time-keeping, ignorance of basic customer service and lack of self-discipline.
Michael Gove slips outside Downing Street
Is David Miliband resorting to bananas again?
Hat/tip: Paul Waugh
Osborne and Laws sharpen their axes: the Con-Dem Nation Economy
So two weeks in, Osborne is able to keep his pledge on making £6,000,000,000 of cuts this year. Well what he has announced proves that he is actually making £5,700,000,000, as he is “redirecting” £500 million, which means he is £300 million pounds short of his pledge.
Whilst the city and business leaders have applauded the “fair but painful” cuts, they note that it will not affect most of the city. Yes some small business will feel the pain particular government contractors and businesses in the IT sector but the Markets and Richard Lambert, head of the Confederation of British Industry could barely contain his joy as taxes will not be raised on the rich, which was the real fear.
Lib Dems and Tories have sold out disabled children
From Jon Bartley on Ekklesia
So despite David Cameron’s promise on national TV to meet with the parents of disabled children who attend mainstream schools, and Channel 4’s FactCheck which showed that the PM didn’t know the contents of his own manifesto with regard to the treatment of disabled children, the Lib Dem-Conservative agreement has taken on board the Tory pledge to “remove the bias toward inclusion” of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in mainstream schools (Sec 26).
http://programmeforgovernment.hmg.gov.uk/files/2010/05/coalition-program…
In full this is what it says:
“We believe the most vulnerable children deserve the very highest quality of care. We will improve diagnostic assessment for schoolchildren, prevent the unnecessary closure of special schools, and remove the bias towards inclusion.”
Britain’s “New Politics”: The Clameron Government
After 5 days of selling themselves to the highest bidder, the Liberal Democrats have gone to bed with Cameron’s Conservatives. Liberal Democrats across the federal executive and parliamentary group are quietly grinning that finally after almost 70 years they are back in government.
Cameron: You'll be taking John Prescott's old job
Peter Mandelson predicted “[People who] vote Lib Dem, they are making it easier for the Tories to get in”. It isn’t often I agree with Mandelson but he was spot on, those who voted for one public schoolboy, got another one free as Prime Minister. Welcome to Clegg’s definition of “New Politics”.
David Cameron is impressive
Gawd bless Dave.
His starting election speech back in April was filled with inspirational references from JFK to Barack Obama, he asked the Great British public to join him in the next UK government. Beaming with pride, he presented an expensive looking hardback manifesto showing that this was a “serious” party for Britain. The polls in April were showing a decisive Conservative victory, “Vote for Change”, he said, and they did. The problem is it wasn’t the change he wanted.
For the first time since 1974, Britain has a “hung parliament“. Dave warned us that his friends in the financial markets may give Britain a bad rating if the public didn’t do or know what was good for them.
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The Undead Hand of New Labour Strikes Back
Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the TV without seeing a Blairite taking control of some part of government policy… the Coalition Government once again disappoint.
Prime Minister David Cameron has recently been playing a steady public relations game of trying to appear tough and Thatcherite on the deficit but also as reasonable and caring in regard to public servants. However the guile and PR wizardry shown in offsetting bribes to those who give their lives for an unnecessary war, against cutting £105 million in the regeneration of jobs in Sheffield this week, is already wearing thin. George Osborne not to be outdone by Cameron has performed even greater political sorcery by raising back from the political grave some of the worst elements of the late New Labour government. Arch-Blairite, the former Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton, has been announced by the Chancellor today, as the head of a new public sector pensions commission, thereby showing once again New Labour’s efforts in helping to legitimise the Coalition Government’s attacks on British public sector workers and pensions.
In truth, there is a woeful disparity between private sector pensions and public sector ones. Osborne states that it is unacceptable for nurses, teachers, low paid workers in local government and in other sectors of the state enjoy their above meagre pensions whilst many low paid workers in the private sector workers don’t even get meagre pensions. His cunning solution is to resolve this imbalance is by further impoverishing public sector workers in their retirement, leaving it to Clegg to announce an ambiguous axe to Members of Parliament pensions though they will probably remain gold plated with their generous golden goodbyes in this parliament. We’re all in this together then.
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