Anti-academy campaigner Alasdair Smith replies to Martine Oborne’s defence last week of plans for a new secondary school at St Mary Magdalene in Islington

THE whole purpose of academies is to provide schools that the chattering middle classes will find acceptable, precisely
because they will be more exclusive.
Academies will be able to select “desirable” pupils and exclude “undesirable” pupils, which will lead to a two-tier state system of good academies for the middle classes and bog- standard schools for the rest. It will give them a better school that they don’t have to pay for privately.
City academies are unpopular with almost everyone except a small coterie of New Labour ministers and, understandably, the parents of children who get a place in these new schools.
The Times Educational Supplement recently reported a survey that showed 95 per cent of headteachers were opposed. In Islington, neither the two MPs, the council, CEA, the privat company that runs our schools, or any of the teaching unions are in favour. Nor is there any real evidence that local parents support academies.
So why are they going ahead with the academy on the site of St Mary Magdalene Primary School?
There are two main reasons. First is the political opportunism of the Liberal Democrat group who made the opening of a new Church of England secondary school a manifesto commitment. Nationally, the Lib Dems are opposed to academies. Councillors Steve Hitchin and James Kempton are both on record as opposing them, but they have changed their tune for crude political advantage.
Second, if Islington doesn’t accept academies it won’t get £140 million “Building schools for the future” money to rebuild other schools. This blatant New Labour blackmail is happening all over the country and many local education authorities feel compelled to accept academies.
The exception to this appears to be our neighbour, Camden. Often held up as the model for successful schools, it is odd that Camden has no plans for academies.
But let’s not dress up academies as a progressive move. Academies are privatisation of state education to favour the few not the many.
By removing schools from the democratic control of the local education authority, they will serve to undermine comprehensive education for all.
And, yes, although St Mary Magdalene Academy will be run by the Church of England, which is probably better than assorted fat cats or secretive Masonic groups, it still beggars belief that Islington needs a Church of England school.
Martine Oborne claims C of E schools are better run and get better results. But this statement hides a reality that dares not speak its name. It is the intake of C of E schools, and the tendency towards a higher social and economic status of the parents at these schools, that account for their success.
As with lots of things these days, C of E has a coded meaning. The code can be different in different cases and for different people. But whether it is a class or a race preference, a C of E school is about getting a better deal for one part of our community at the expense of the rest.
And, to be honest, I’m not sure that is a very Christian thing to do. We don’t have C of E hospitals, so why C of E schools? And if the Muslim population has grown, why not a Muslim secondary school?
In the 30 or more years since the end of the 11-plus and two-tier education, a fully comprehensive system has never been realised. The original ideal was that middle class and working class children, black and white, religious and non-religious would be educated side by side because the very process of mixing abilities and backgrounds benefited not only the children themselves, but also society in general.
It is a pity all the main political parties seem to have run away from this comprehensive ideal.
A comprehensive education system is one of the pillars of the welfare state, on a par with a free health service.
It is a fundamental right that all children should get the best possible education. The present system has had many successes, but some problems too. But that’s no reason to allow the chattering classes to carve it up under the banner of “choice” so that the few get access to the best slices. So parents shouldn’t be conned by academies. However, with the decision to go ahead with St Mary Magdalene Academy already made, the council has colluded in the process of dismantling comprehensive education in Islington.
There is still a need to halt the academy at Islington Green School. Be it bankers or businessmen, Masons or fat cats, these people are not fit to run our schools.

• Alasdair Smith (pictured) is a lecturer in education at the University of London’s Institute of Education. He has taught history in an Islington secondary school for more than a decade and is vice-president of Islington National Union of Teachers and part of Islington Campaign Against Academies.