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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Calling time on academies: education is too important to be at the mercy of profiteers
HANK ROBERTS writes that his own experience of exposing a headteacher who had misappropriated millions in school funds and then spending almost a decade trying to bring him to justice shows how inherently corrupt the academies system is

THE private takeover of state education is a longstanding concern of the NASUWT, other education unions, the TUC and education pressure groups.

The majority of this country supports the NHS: run by the state for the people, not the privateers. The majority also support this for state education. We need to say unequivocally academies and “free schools” should be returned to local authority control.

Margaret Thatcher started the mass privatisation of Britain, but even she did not dare try it on state education. That was left to Blair’s New Labour.

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