The Education Secretary has made it very plain that unless the fundamental structures of education are reformed completely, the mediocre regime favoured by councils and trades unions will just reassert itself.
The successes that teachers have realised in recent years have transformed lives. They cannot be squandered. There is too much at stake.
Two forces drive the Education Secretary’s reactionary, anti-academic, and disastrous agenda: a desire for uniformity, and spite. She hates tall poppies.
Labour simultaneously argues that there won’t be significant displacement of pupils from the independent sector, and that the parents of displaced pupils will drive up standards in state schools.
Step by step in Education, the things that saw us rise up the international league tables are being reversed, and we should expect we will fall down those tables again.
I’ve been heartened by people who have contacted me to say they want challenge this lie. Labour loves the “blame the Tories” mantra – but this one won’t stick. And we can’t let it.
For many state schools, already thinly-resourced and stretched to capacity, a sudden influx of students from the independent sector would be a disaster.
The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found a 20-point gender reading gap between boys and girls in the UK, compared to an 30-point average across the OECD.
A remarkable amount has been achieved. Often against the odds and in the face of adversity. And certainly in circumstances far less benign than those faced by New Labour.
The Department for Education and Government Equalities Office must have a contingency plan available to deploy immediately, updating the necessary guidance to ensure that schools can remain true to their ethos.
To make progress over the coming year, the Party needs to reach out to more voters and the danger is that fighting culture wars just puts people off.
Those at the bottom of the economic pyramid do often have both the least control over their children’s educational experience – and could benefit the most from it.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
We hurl abuse at here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians and their advisers, while the permanent state flourishes like a green bay tree.
Private schools are not the enemy. They provide opportunities, alleviate pressure on state schools, and contribute to society. The Government’s policy risks eroding these benefits.