The state’s monopoly control over schools must end, says Cornerstone Group of MPs
Radical plans to break the state monopoly over Britain’s education system are unveiled today by the influential Cornerstone Group of Tory MPs.
A paper published by the 40-strong group and written by its President Edward Leigh MP suggests that Tony Blair’s controversial Education Bill is “timid” and says it is time to sweep away the distinction between the state and private sectors.
The paper proposes an “education credit” worth about £5000 a year which could be cashed at any school, state or private. The amount of the credit would equal the average cost per pupil in the existing state sector.
Parents choosing a fee-paying independent school would be allowed to top up any difference between the value of the credit and the fees charged by the school.
Every state school would become an independent charitable trust with the freedom to manage its own budget, hire and fire staff, decide its own curriculum, and select pupils by academic or other abilities.
Local education authorities and most education quangos would be abolished in a radical pruning of bureaucracy. Extra money would be saved by scrapping Whitehall’s 4,500-strong Department for Education and Skills and replacing it with a funding council staffed by just 100 officials.
There would then be two types of school: the majority of free independent schools paid for by the taxpayer, and a minority of fee-charging independent schools where parents could use their education credit to meet any shortfall, says Mr Leigh MP.
Mr Leigh puts forward an ingenious way of introducing the education credit. He proposes eliminating the so-called deadweight cost of making the credit available to parents of pupils at private schools by phasing it in over 14 years. In its first year, the credit would only be paid to families with children in primary school reception classes; in the second year, it would go to families with children in year one of primary school, and so on in subsequent years.
This removes the immediate so-called “deadweight cost” of introducing the policy, as no existing pupil at an independent school would receive the credit. It will only apply to future pupils, and so by definition there will not be a deadweight cost.
The paper also calls for schools to be given full control over the curriculum and an overhaul of the school inspectorate Ofsted to make it a champion of parent’s wishes and independent of government.
Mr Leigh argues that his shakeup would bring Britain into line with many other countries and ensure it abided by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which states that parents have a right to choose the kind of education to be given to their children.
Mr Leigh says that his proposals are in tune with David Cameron’s overall approach. “The group is very supportive of David Cameron’s move away from being the party only of big business and his stress on conserving the environment; both positions have a long pedigree in the High Tory tradition. We believe that this pamphlet is entirely in line with his approach.
“David Cameron has made an excellent start with his stalwart support for special schools in the teeth of government threats to leave them to the mercy of the LEAs; his approach would extend parental rights by offering more school choice. I totally agree with him that our policy must not allow only a few to opt out of the centrally controlled education system and failed comprehensives; that is why I propose that everyone should be able to choose an independent school or a state school operating with independence.
“These reforms may seem dramatic; indeed, they are. Education reform in Britain has been pallid and timid. With the system diseased and decaying, it is time for major surgery. Good past initiatives - like grant-maintained schools and the Assisted Places Scheme - only helped minorities. My reforms would change things so radically that past problems with attempted improvements would be quickly resolved.”
