Mayor Slams Government Plans to 'Nationalise' the Schools System

Mayor Dave Hodgson has slammed the Government's plans to force every school in England to become an academy regardless of whether they want to. As leader of the Council in the local authority area with the very best Ofsted-rated schools in the Eastern region, Mayor Dave attacked the proposals revealed in the Education White Paper published by the Government yesterday which will force all schools to become academies by 2022, and which also features the removal of the requirement for schools to include parent governors.

Commenting on his Facebook page, Mayor Dave said;

"96.2% of local authority schools in Bedford Borough are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. Now the government has decided that the priority in the education sector must be to force all of them to become academies against their wishes (they can 'academise' if they want now, and those that haven't have chosen not to), at huge public expense.'

"I would say it beggars belief, but sadly it's entirely consistent with the dogmatic, centralising, nationalising approach of this government on education."