Parents, teachers and support staff in Islington, north London, won a stunning victory against a proposed academy in the area in July.
They forced ARK, a charity run by a group of bankers and hedge fund speculators, to pull out of a scheme to create an independent but state-funded academy on the sites of Islington Green and Moreland schools.
The recent government white paper on education threatens to destroy what’s left of a comprehensive state education system which is democratically accountable to the local community and committed to providing equal opportunities.
Instead, all our schools could end up being handed to trusts run by businessmen, religious fundamentalists, or both. They would in effect all become privately sponsored academies, creating a two-tier education system.
Elected local education authorities would lose their responsibility for providing education and just become “commissioners” of services. Tony Blair’s defeat over the terror bill shows he can be stopped.
A lobby of Emily Thornberry MP’s surgery has been called for 9.30am on Saturday 10 December at Islington town hall by Islington Campaign Against Academies.
It is supported by Islington Teachers Association (NUT) and Islington Unison.
Other areas may want to lobby their MP against the white paper.
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