| NUT and ATL members across London are organising a rally this Wednesday to voice their concerns about the Government’s plans to convert all schools to academies Two petitions to Government calling for an end of the forced academies policy have reached their target of 100,000 signatures in less than a week. (1) This is a clear indication that the general public does not believe these reforms are wanted or needed. Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “The Government should be addressing the real issues facing schools: the teacher shortage, the lack of pupil places, the chaos in the curriculum. The White Paper is a distraction from those central concerns. “Incredibly, this is all being done despite the fact that there is no evidence that academies improve the educational results of children. We must all speak out to keep education in the hands of our communities and stop this reckless and destructive policy. “There are serious democratic concerns surrounding the White Paper. Its proposal to convert all schools to academies wasn’t in the Conservative manifesto, and it deliberately cuts parents out of decision-making about their schools.” Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “Against all logic, and evidence, the Government is promoting its ideology to fragment the education system. There is no evidence academies improve children’s education. All the evidence shows the quality of multi-academy trusts (MATs) is highly variable. Even Sir Michael Wilshaw has said that the worst MATs are performing as badly as the worst local authorities. And a Government that keeps on saying how much it believes in parental choice is about to remove all choice from parents about the schools available for their children and who runs them. This is a battle we must fight, and we can win. Let’s get to it. - See more at: http://www.teachers.org.uk/news-events/press-releases-england/nut-atl-london-rally-against-forced-academies?#sthash.iHzUhvE4.dpuf |