Are we sleep-walking into privatisation? Are we as school leaders complicit? David Dixon fears the state system may collapse under the weight of its own complexity and bureaucracy

In my first headship in 1995, I first encountered grant maintained (GM) schools. My local colleagues were against them. This was in stark contrast to the heads in a neighbouring authority where they were able to expand their provision and improve their facilities due to a much more favourable funding formula.

This meant that middle class parents with their new rights of “choice”, voted with their feet and caused a pupil movement across the border to the “better” schools.

As a result, some of the secondary schools in my local authority withered as they leaked more academically able pupils and were left with higher proportions of “problem” SEND pupils. This was the precursor to the marketisation of education through the academy and free school programme that we have today. It also included Local Management of Schools (LMS).

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