Angela Rayner MP Representing the communities of Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylsden and Failsworth.
Angela met with families who are fighting a bid to make headteachers at three Bedford primary schools redundant.
Parents and children representing Shackleton, Cauldwell and Shortstown primary schools met Angela in Parliament along with their local MP and Angela’s parliamentary colleague and friend Mohammad Yasin MP (Bedford&Kempston). They are fighting the Heart Academies Trust.
Mohammad said: “I am standing with the parents because I share their belief that replacing experienced and dedicated teaching staff with inexperienced staff and executive heads cannot improve educational outcomes for children. “It is appalling that parents and just about everybody else has been locked out of discussions about big changes at the schools and that there is no mechanism in place for schools to change their mind or to return to local authority if they wish.”
He added: “Our schools have had their budgets cut year after year, we have a teacher retention and morale crisis, and teachers are being forced to ask parents for money for the most basic provisions. “Yet the headteachers of multi-academy trusts are earning huge salaries from public funds, and there is little or no transparent accountability about how public funds are being managed. We must end the current free schools and academies programmes and move towards a new system where all schools follow the same rules, and parents, local communities and teachers have meaningful power over the schools in their areas.”
Angela added: “I was happy to offer my support to Mohammad and the parents in their campaign.”