Opponents say Michael Gove's draft legislation will place fate of country's schools into too few hands
Teachers, lawyers and parents warn today that Michael Gove's first bill – to create thousands more academies – is "anti-democratic" and concentrates the fate of the country's schools into too few hands.
The education secretary's new bill paves the way for a big expansion in the number of the publicly funded independent schools and allows top schools to fast-track the process and potentially leave local council control as early as September.
But the draft legislation, which will have its second reading in the Lords today, also dispenses with parents' and teachers' legal right to oppose such plans and removes local authorities' powers to veto a school's attempt to switch status.
Under Labour, schools that planned to become academies had to consult local authorities, which could stop them. Disputes went to an independent adjudicator. But this will not happen if the new legislation is passed. Instead, Gove can make a "discontinuance order" and no consultation need take place.
Teachers and lawyers said this contradicts the Tory vision for a "Big Society", handing public services to "little platoons of civil society". They say that it will give too much power to school governors, who are unpaid – and unelected in some cases – and can be parents, teachers, council workers or members of the local community.
David Wolfe, an education barrister at Matrix Chambers in London, said: "It is hard to escape the conclusion that this bill is undemocratic. What this does is remove the public process. Nobody, apart from the education secretary and the governors will be able to stop the process. It seems to be entirely out of kilter with the idea of a 'Big Society'. You are handing power to the governors to steal the school. If they want to change the ethos or make the pupils wear the uniform of Etonians, they will be able to, and parents and teachers will be powerless to stop them."
John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said: "This is astonishing: it is more centralised than anything that Labour ever considered. There is no requirement to consult parents, staff or anyone locally when an academy gets set up."
He said local communities were being "completely disempowered" from having a say in the establishment of a new form of school. "For all that we have heard from the new government about devolving power, this is actually a much more highly centralised system of control."
Brian Lightman, general secretary-elect of the Association of School and College Leaders, said governors who did not consult risked "disenfranchising" teachers and parents.
He said: "We would strongly advise any governors who want to change their school's status to consult fully with the staff and parents. It is good management and otherwise it is very risky."
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said the bill "silenced the voices of communities".
She said: "This bill is riddled from top to bottom with silencing the voice of the workforce. We think the whole idea of academies is anti-democratic because it severs schools' links with democratically elected local authorities."
However, a spokesman from the Department for Education said that, although it was not in the legislation, it was important for schools to discuss their intention to change with parents and pupils.
He said: "The governing bodies of the schools wanting to convert [to academy status] have at least one, but often more parent governor and teacher governor – they are there to be the voice of these groups and the governing body has to pass a resolution before it can become an academy so they will have their chance to oppose the plans then. Existing legislation for setting up academies does not require consultation with parents either, but in practice this has often taken place."
Meanwhile, an expert on the labour market for teachers has warned that a mass expansion in academies is likely to drain state schools of teachers in shortage subjects, such as physics and maths. Professor John Howson, a former government adviser who conducts studies on the teaching workforce, said academies would swallow up teachers in shortage subjects because they could pay them more.
Academies can set their own pay scales and award bonuses, unlike state schools under local authority control.
Many headteachers and staff in academies created under Labour are paid more than those in most state schools.
"This may well provoke a price war for teachers, especially in shortage subjects," he said. Unless controlled, this could mean pupils in state schools could have even fewer physics teachers, he added. One in four schools in England already has no physics teacher.