Peter Hoskin

The Gove reforms grow even more radical

Local authorities are already doing their utmost to block the coalition’s schools reforms, so just how will they respond to this story on the front of today’s FT? It reveals how Michael Gove is planning to sideline local authorities from the funding of all state schools – not just free schools and academies. The idea is that state schools will get cash directly from the state, without any need for the council middlemen that currently control the system. Here’s an FT graphic that captures the change:

The money would be allocated to schools in proportion to the number of pupils they have, and headmasters would have much more freedom in how to spend it. This is the same simple but transformative dynamic that inspirits the rest of the Gove reforms. Good schools, that attract pupils, would get more and more cash.

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