CITY ACADEMIES

BY RAY FLEMING ONE of the most difficult things I know is how to explain to an American that in Britain “public schools” are in fact “private” schools. It will be even more difficult with the advent of “city academies”, now in the news in various ways, which come close to being state schools run privately. The deal is this: if a rich individual, a church, a company or a group of like-minded people with money can come up with two million pounds to start a city academy the government will chip in with 25 million. Most of the 20 or so city academies already operating are in inner cities and designed to “drive-up” all educational standards in their area. The curriculum is the same as in local authority schools but the “ethos” of the academies is determined by the board of governors on which the sponsors who have provided the initial money have a majority. Some may have an educational axe to grind. City academies came under heavy attack at the National Union of Teachers annual conference yesterday. Unlike other state-funded schools, academies do not have to employ teachers registered with the General Teaching Council and they can opt out of national pay agreements. There are conflicting reports on whether the academies are producing better results than the “bog-standard” comprehensives they often replace. The government wants 200 by 2010; but will the unsavoury publicity about honours for individuals sponsoring them lead to a shortage of funds in the future?