Parent Power in Britain

An internal Labour Party struggle is waging over the principles underlying "parent power" and the template for school-based management the policy recommends for public schools in Great Britain.
Published on March 4, 2006

Executive Summary

  • During the last election campaign in Britain, the Labour government proposed a series of education reforms to secondary schools known collectively as “parent power.”
  • The modern British school system has undergone a series of reforms since universal secondary schooling was introduced in 1944.
  • The latest wave of reform is based on a government White Paper published in 2005.
  • The White Paper called for small group tuition, allowing successful schools to expand and develop additional specialties, enhanced local control over decision-making, a “back to the basics” emphasis and a new focus on gifted education.
  • Taken together, the proposals will significantly expand the range of school choice for British parents and the ability of individual schools to specialize and compete for students.
  • While the opposition Conservatives criticized some of the specifics, their education platform was remarkably similar.
  • The “parent power” initiative has sparked a major backbench rebellion within the Labour Party. The heart of the reforms may not survive and become law.
  • Many of these reforms could and should be implemented in Manitoba.

 

Read Pdf – 

FB040ParentPowerinBritainMarch06

Featured News

MORE NEWS

How DEI Is Hijacking The Future Of Legal Education

How DEI Is Hijacking The Future Of Legal Education

Senior Fellow Collin May spotlights Ilya Shapiro’s claim that DEI is warping legal education into activism training. Ideological conformity is replacing rigour, threatening free speech, legal neutrality, and the rule of law itself.

Teacher’s Striking

Teacher’s Striking

  In a recent Frontier commentary, Michael Zwaagstra argues that teacher strikes, such as those seen in Saskatchewan, unfairly disrupt student learning and should be replaced by binding arbitration—a system already in place in Manitoba. He contends that strikes...

Sick Of Teacher Strikes? There’s A Better Way

Sick Of Teacher Strikes? There’s A Better Way

Senior Fellow Michael Zwaagstra says it’s time to ban teacher strikes in Saskatchewan. Students shouldn’t be collateral damage. Binding arbitration works in Manitoba—so what’s the excuse here?