Acadamies - what went wrong?

[Mechanoid]

After sending my last child off to school and her getting settled and doing really well, I decided to get back into the world of work and considered being a TA. I volunteered at my daughter's school and found that I loved it. After a while, I signed up with an agency and have been in paid work ever since. I love it.

I'm a graduate and had considered Teaching initially, but I actually prefer being a TA - I'm very good at it and love what I do. So imagine my disappointment then, when I started applying for jobs as a TA and being told (always by academies!) that "TA's are Teachers these days!".

Interestingly, they seem happy with unqualified people Teaching, but not with paying qualified rates...how odd!

In a state school, TA are just that: TA's! But academies aren't schools and I would NEVER send my child to one. Any views?

Yes - where judicial review has been successful, does this mean that the judge is being political, or that the DfE was being political? Are judicial reviews more often successful, or unsuccessful in these cases?

As a taxpayer, I do somewhat object to the notion that it is "only" £25,000 extra per outstanding and good school to convert to academy status (plus all the hours of diverted time, effort and attention spent by school staff and governors on conversion, and all the academy roadshows etc, and the new employees required to help take over roles previously filled by LAs)... I don't see how that is money well spent, if the schools in question are already amongst the best - particularly not when we are told that budgets are strained and schools aren't getting as much money as they would like for the actual teaching side of their budgets, rather than the academy conversion aspect.

how can they make that claim stand up

They haven't but many still seem to believe it. Note that I am not commenting specifically on kscience's. Apart from anything else I have no idea which LA she is talking about.

Are judicial reviews more often successful, or unsuccessful in these cases

They are always unsuccessful. There was one case earlier this year where the objectors got a temporary injunction putting the academy order on hold but they lost the subsequent judicial review and the school concerned will be an academy in September. All other attempts to use the courts to block or delay academy conversion have failed completely. Your first question therefore does not arise - no judicial reviews have been successful.

I do somewhat object to the notion that it is "only" £25,000 extra

I didn't use the word "only". The argument for conversion is that the school will perform better as an academy, in part due to the LA no longer top slicing its budget. Note that I am not offering an opinion as to whether or not converting schools is money well spent. That really depends on whether or not they produce the benefits claimed by supporters of academies.

But if a school is already considered outstanding, how does it prove it is becoming even more outstanding now it is an academy? Doesn't that make its previous "outstanding" seem somewhat underwhelming?

Is this article wrong or out of date, as it strongly implies that quite a lot of schools have successfully challenged politically biased attempts at forcing academy status? Or is it just highlighting the difference between the cases that went to judicial review and those on which the DfE knew it was wrong when push came to shove?www.theguardian.com/education/2013/feb/11/academies-schools-education-policy

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28544252#?utm

why would an LA object to a failing school becoming an academy and what basis would they be able to fight it in the case of a consistently failing school

They object because they are ideologically opposed to academies. - prh

Er...

Meet the Tory council boss who's happy to snub the academy dream

Academies drain our education funds, councils warn (including Tory controlled Kent)

Council leader challenges education secretary over Lancashire's 'failing' primary schools - Conservative council

Appeal panels are also required to consider whether or not the admission arrangements are in breach of the Code and refer any breaches to the Adjudicator.

And each admissions authority sets up its own appeal panels. Some academies and free schools just buy in the service provided by the LA. But some don't ...

The interesting thing about the trail of judicial review applications is that there has been a pattern where, immediately after winning a JR and stoutly maintaining that their conduct was absolutely lawful, the DfE has quietly changed the practice, funding code provision or whatever that was being complained of. So opponents are relatively satisfied that, although the DfE will never admit it, they have actually brought about some significant improvements.

And, of course, we don't really get to hear about those cases where the DfE position is so indefensible that they quietly settle the JR claim.

But if a school is already considered outstanding, how does it prove it is becoming even more outstanding now it is an academy

Being rated outstanding by Ofsted is not the only measure. And, as with many human activities, standards tend to rise over time. A school that is outstanding today will cease to be outstanding in a few years time unless it improves. But ultimately you need proponents of academies to give their views.

Is this article wrong or out of date

Neither. It is correct that some schools have been able to resist calls for conversion to academy status but not through judicial review, which is what we were talking about. In these cases the DfE backed off before the cases came to court although it has to be said that, on the basis of existing case law, they would probably have won most if not all of these cases had they chosen to pursue them.

straggle - I stand by what I said. Being a Conservative local councillor does not automatically make you a supporter of academies. If you are a local councillor keeping control of schools means your LA has more funding and you have more influence.

But some don't ...

Indeed. The same is true of VA schools. And the admission authority for LA-controlled schools (the LA) always appoints its own appeal panels. The EFA (for academies) and the LGO (for other types of school) will step in if the appeal panel is not properly trained, contains members who are too closely associated with the admission authority or fails to act independently.

immediately after winning a JR and stoutly maintaining that their conduct was absolutely lawful, the DfE has quietly changed the practice

Evidence? There haven't been many judicial reviews and I'm not aware of any significant changes of practice but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

prh47bridge, local councillors live and work among parents who are affected by the upheaval of forced academisation. They sometimes even send their children to the local schools and are elected by the communities they serve, unlike the thinktanks, academy chain directors and edu-businesses who have vested interests, and the Westminster politicians who are ideologically in favour of marketising state education but do not participate in it as individuals.

straggle - local councillors live and work among parents who are affected by the upheaval of forced academisation. They sometimes even send their children to the local schools and are elected by the communities they serve, unlike the thinktanks, academy chain directors and edu-businesses who have vested interests. I think you will find that those same local councillors have a vested interest too* how do you think they win their votes in the first place?

Presumably local councillors act on the feelings of the communities they serve and not their own interests

The EFA (for academies) and the LGO (for other types of school) will step in if the appeal panel is not properly trained, contains members who are too closely associated with the admission authority or fails to act independently.

Only if it is drawn to their attention. An awful lot of bad practice slips through because people don't know their rights or can't be bothered to fight.

Fortunately as parents and residents we can vote out councillors who have vested interests. Like in Hammersmith and Fulham. But we can't vote out or even communicate effectively with the directors or 'local governing bodies' of academy chains. Parents' ballots against forced academisation and an imposed academy sponsor have been disregarded, including in cases of judicial review.

Evidence? There haven't been many judicial reviews and I'm not aware of any significant changes of practice but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

davidwolfe.org.uk/wordpress/

mrz Presumably local councillors act on the feelings of the communities they serve and not their own interests when it comes to gaining votes, there is a direct link between the two. Local politicians put their time and efforts where they feel they will gain the most votes, or at least in the area I live.

Meetings have taken place with one particular local politician who pretty much said the local educational issues were nothing to do with them. However, they have been far from shy when putting their name on ever piece of publicity linked to a rather controversial housing development.

Local councillors are elected to represent the interests of the community - the community needs to make their views known and if they feel that their interests are ignored to act accordingly!

mrz out of interest what powers do local councillors have when it comes to the educational provision in a local area (all schools are academies if that makes a difference)?

Yes it makes a difference academies are outside local control

mrz Yes it makes a difference academies are outside local control and is exactly why local councillors don't always represent the interests of the community.

It's a brave or foolish person who acts against the wishes of the local voters.

mrz It's a brave or foolish person who acts against the wishes of the local voters. Only if they act against the majority vote. If the majority of voters are single, married couples without children, pensioners etc. Ignoring issues concerning secondary education is likely to have only a small impact on the majority vote. This can easily be countered by, let say, supporting a hospital redevelopment.

mrz It's a brave or foolish person who acts against the wishes of the local voters. Btw, they didn't act against it, they just refused to have anything to do with it.

Once academies are outside LA control they would have no powers to take over if they are in a mess. Unlike a faith school where the church withdraws (as has happened on a few rare occasions) where it is still a 'maintained school'. But it would have to find places for their pupils if the school was closed down by the DfE.

Academies in a chain have less autonomy than maintained schools, as has been evidenced by the Sutton Trust, Academies Commission, the Education Select Committee, etc. The schools in a chain have no legal identity that would allow an LA to bail them out.