Free Schools or Rich Fools?

Having just watched "Set up your own school" on iplayer I have to confess I was somewhat won over by the free schools movement. While not entirely convinced by the motivations of the group trying to set up the West London school, I couldn't help but think the principles behind the free schools idea are pretty sound.

The central principle behind both free schools and academies is parental choice. Fundamentally a New Labour idea, thinkers like Lord Adonis have advocated giving people greater choice in public services. The heir to this vision is now the Conservative Party, with Education Secretary Michael Gove building on Swedish and American examples to support free schools.

Some people in the Labour Party have kicked up a lot of fuss about free schools. The main arguments against the idea are based around social division. The thinking here is that allowing a group of parents to create their own school will exclude children whose parents do not share the same social background as the schools' founders. As a result, it is argued, a two-tier divide will open up in state education between children of very privileged parents and children from deprived areas who are unable to access these opportunities. It is this reasoning that also prompted the Liberal Democrats to vote against the proposals at their recent party conference.

My objection to this is the belief that most parents want to do the best for their children. Therefore, most parents would be thrilled to send their kids to the kind of school Toby Young wants to create in West London. Young's school will have an admissions policy where 75% of places are allocated on lottery. So the intelligence or wealth of children in that area of London will make no difference as to their eligibility for admission. Everyone, whether or not they are investment bankers or care workers, will have an equal chance of their child getting in. Much fairer, arguably, than the current system which allocates places based on distance from school, driving up house prices and excluding less affluent children.

As such, I have no principled objection against free schools and wish Toby Young all the best. Here are my caveats, however:

1. Exclusions - Toby Young says he wants a school based on strict discipline and intolerance of bad behaviour. Fine. It's pretty clear though that the majority of children who exhibit signs of bad behaviour will come from the poorer areas of West London. Will they be excluded when they put up the first resistance to compulsory Latin? Will the school retreat into its middle class comfort zone and only admit suitable children? Will it introduce aptitude testing for admission?

2. Cost - I have always thought it odd that a Conservative Party so enthusiastic about cutting public expenditure would promote free schools at this time. Creating an extra school means heating an extra classroom, building new facilities, employing new teachers etc. Where are the funds for this? Will they be diverted from existing successful schools? Will they come from other public services? Vulnerable people will find it difficult to accept cuts in funding just so Toby Young can teach kids Latin.

3. Accountability - as one person pointed out in the programme, like them or loath them, local councillors are elected officials. The performance of schools in an area will directly influence their prospects of re-election. What happens if the West London Free School turns out to be a failure? Who carries the can? What will be the position where a school decides to teach children that homosexuality is wrong, for example? It was interesting to see a 13 year old lad try to tell Young that kids may not flourish by being forced to learn Latin.

4. Motivations - it seems strange that Toby Young would invest so much time and energy in creating a new school because the high-performing state school in his area tries to teach children about multi-culturalism and respect. This suggests that people may want to set up their own school for all kinds of nasty reasons. Maybe someone will object to his local school teaching kids about evolution?

If Gove, Young or Cameron can answer these points, I for one would stand up in support. So let's hear the case.