Con-Dems 'will pay' for academies push

A drab day in Torquay did little to dull delegates' spirits at the National Union of Teachers conference on Monday, with members calling for continued work with the Anti-Academies Alliance and possible strikes across entire local authorities.

Lambeth delegate Bridget Chapman, who chairs the alliance, told the crowd her campaign was not against the parents or staff of converted academies.

"We are against starters of academies - the way they break our education system into bite-sized chunks for the privateering vultures."

Islington delegate and Alliance secretary Alasdair Smith agreed, saying the campaign was against venture capitalists and a "smash and grab" government.

The call found favour with many delegates. Fylde's Stephen Nolan railed against taxes "dumped into the huge gaping maw" of private chains and companies, while Birmingham's Doug Morgan said the campaign was like those over pay and pensions.

"We have to make the government pay a price every time they try to get their grubby hands on our schools," he said.

But Haringey delegate Simon Horne objected, saying many converted schools had made a pragmatic decision when faced with local authority funding cuts.

"There ought to be a fundamental review of who would be running these academies and who we would work with," he said.

Newham delegate John Blake followed suit with dark sarcasm.

"Just signing up to the [alliance] is like signing up to the Anti-Iceberg League as the Titanic slides into the water," he said.

The motion was largely carried.

rorym@peoples-press.com