Why should teachers want academies?

The Secretary of State, speaking at Wellington Academy this week, gave several reasons why teachers should love academies. They include (in the order of the press statement): higher average pay at a younger age; more freedom for teachers; better training; and better benefits, including private medical cover.

Let's dissect all that and see how it stacks up.

First, the fundamental issue of school funding is that all state-supported schools, academies or not, should be funded in the same way. That is generally recognised to be simply not true; the LGA is seeking a Judicial Review on this point. But if it were true, then where on earth is the extra funding for salaries and benefits coming from? Increased efficiencies? I really don't think so, and if all schools become academies, as Michael Gove wants, this will be cruelly revealed as the total national education budget is constrained to the CSR spending limit. And just to give two examples in the press recently, local authority expert support on human resources, and on health and safety, genuinely helps schools keep costs down, and there is little evidence that academies can procure 'central services' more cheaply than from local authorities.