£240m spent on schools where no places were needed
Judge Mental
Posts: 18,593 Forum Member
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http://www.theguardian.com/education
What a scandalous waste of public money. And for those who might argue the case for new schools where standards are low you should be aware that free schools are failing ofsted with greater frequency than maintained schools!
The public accounts committee were very critical of the financial oversight of these schools.
So much for austerity britain.
What a scandalous waste of public money. And for those who might argue the case for new schools where standards are low you should be aware that free schools are failing ofsted with greater frequency than maintained schools!
The public accounts committee were very critical of the financial oversight of these schools.
So much for austerity britain.
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Obviously the parents in those areas saw a demand..
That surely is up to the parents - if there is no demand then there is bound to be no applications.
I somehow get the feeling that Ms Hodge doesn't understand the rational behind Free Schools.
If schools are already under-filled, that's going to have an impact on the quality of education they can deliver. Free schools being set up in areas where there are no places needed are impacting the quality of education in the region as a whole.
I might see a demand for a service - it doesn't mean the government can afford to fund it from tax revenue or that it offers good value for money.
True - and that's why the majority of free schools are operating well below full capacity and are having to be funded for diseconomies of scale for several years.
I somehow get the feeling she understands the ideology all too well - but that the committee (cross party) were unconvinced by Gove's defence of it. I somehow get the feeling that Gove couldn't care less about how public money is spent or democracy as long as he pushes his pet projects through unchallenged.
Indeed. How can the government believe it makes any sense to have schools opening near other half full schools at a cost of millions instead of spending the available funding improving the standards in existing schools?
I thought he had a magic bullet for underperformance - academy conversion? Why isn't he using it in areas where free schools are opening if it's so successful (clue - it isn't!)
They were wrong too!
Perhaps the quality of education in those areas is already so bad that the parents demand an alternative - and Free Schools fuel that demand.
After all if the parents were already satisfied with the quality of education supplied by the State in the existing schools there would be no demand for something else.
Those parents are taxpayers, if they feel that the service offered is not good enough why on earth should they not demand an alternative?
Personally I cant an issue with schools not operating at full capacity - after all we see stories every week of parents who cannot get their choice of school because the one they want is full.
I somehow get the feeling that yet again you are more interested in the welfare of the Unions and Educational establishment than what parents want for their children.
If what parents demand is higher quality why not improve what's already there. If the schools available are so poor how can Gove in good conscience leave children in them. Spend those millions improving teaching standards, leadership and governance.
It's Gove who is obsessed with the unions and the establishment. He's got his eye on the wrong ball.