Posted by Labour’s 2018 conference committed the party to restoring a publicly accountable school system. The first steps were clear – no new academies, no new free schools and the restoration of genuine local accountability and decision making. There is a lot to do however to turn admirable objectives into a new legal framework. In this cycle, the party will be consulting on some of the issues. In anticipation, last weekend, SEA held a seminar looking in detail at how we could achieve our aims, not just in relation to schools but to the whole of the National Education Service. We heard from some of the real experts in the field.
The papers prepared for the seminar can be accessed here:
School Structures by David Wolfe and Anne West
Options for reforming Local Government
Academies and local authorities by Richard Hatcher
Our aim is to produce a detailed road map showing how the aims set out at Liverpool can be achieved – we are very aware that in 2010, Michael Gove came into government absolutely prepared to implement his agenda. Labour needs to be just as well prepared. At our Manchester meeting on March 9th, we’ll be reviewing the outcomes of the seminar and following that we’ll be sharing ideas with all our members before putting our ideas into the party’s policy process.
