Communist Web Saturday 26th February 2000 9.30pm gmt Britain - Privatisation menaces 40 per cent of schools by Daphne Liddle Britain's Labour Government has announced plans to contract out the work of three Labour-controlled local education authorities (LEAs) which were deemed to have been "failing". Another three LEAs, Liverpool, Hackney and Islington, have already been sold off. In the same week, Chris Woodhead, the controversial chief inspector of the Government's education watchdog Ofsted, condemned another 23 out of 59 LEAs as failing in their duties - indicating that the Government intends to step up the process of privatising the administration of education in England and Wales. Woodhead said that the 23 were found to be wasting public money and making it harder for schools to raise standards. Another 92 LEAs are yet to be inspected but many of these are also expected to "fail". Schools Minister Estelle Morris has announced a big drive to recruit more (management) consultants to help with the expected increase in "interventions" (sell-offs). The list of complaints against the failing LEAs is predictable: councillors competing for funds for schools in their own wards, poor repair of buildings to the point where teaching is impaired, and so on. Cuts to education budgets have been going on now for two decades and it is this which lies at the root of... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/pri/pri.html
