A COPY of a letter sent to Neil Carmichael MP re the Government white paper Educational Excellence Everywhere: Stroud Town Council invites you to present the evidence to justify the proposal in the White Paper to make all schools become academies and to respond to the concerns outline below.

The council is concerned about the impact on schools in Stroud of the Government proposal contained in this white paper to convert all schools to academies.

It is felt that this process represents an erosion of local democratic control and would effectively lead to the privatisation of education.

Issues of concern include:

The future ownership of land and buildings currently in local authority control;

The impact on employment rights and trade union services;

Reductions in funding;

The loss of input from parents as governors or volunteers;

Potential exclusion of SEN or disabled children;

Removal of access to specialist support services;

The lack of local scrutiny;

The main concern is the lack of evidence in the White Paper, or elsewhere, for the effectiveness of academies in raising academic standards.

It has been noted that local authority schools frequently outperform existing academies and that forced conversion has had a negative impact on some our local schools. The next town council meeting will be held on Monday, May 16, and you are welcome to attend.

Helen Bojaniwska

Clerk to Stroud Town Council