Non political school commissioners or DfE policy gaff?

Incoming OFSTED chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has today, advocated the appointment of local trouble-shooters whose so-called job it would be, to identify failing schools and sack incompetent heads. He believes that spotting failing schools should not be down to him alone. Sir Michael believes that identifying and helping schools early requires local trouble-shooters or school commissioners to make the necessary interventions and report their findings directly to the Secretary of State.

Brian Lightman the General Secretary ASCL speculates upon this sudden policy U turn in his blog. Brian Lightman is a keen observer and is quick to spot the political implications of this move and rightly sees this as a ‘ devastating critique of government policy’.

The point is that this is a political move and as such the timing of this move is equally important, 3 days before Sir Michael takes up his appointment as head of OFSTED.

In the Times Sir Michael outlines his proposals. He called on ministers

'to appoint dozens of these commissioners in local areas to decide whether to close or merge academies, or replace head teachers or governing bodies where standards were unacceptably low'

'They could be modelled on commissioners which monitor school standards in the US'

Why oh why are we constantly looking at US models of education and how can we believe that these posts would ever be non-political?

Brian Lightman concludes that education policy is being made all too often by individuals or by politically motivated think-tanks such as the IPPR.

He calls for a Crown appointment of a Chief Education Officer who would be an expert in this field and be politically independent similar to the Chief medical officer’s present role.

Education is crying out for objective, non political accountability.

Michael Gove has centralized academies and turned Whitehall into the largest LA in the country. His goal has been to create more autonomy for schools.

How could the DfE ever hope to monitor and manage all these divergent schools successfully?

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Gove has asked Sir Michael to trail this new policy initiative on his behalf as he tries to cover up a DfE policy gaff. After all, Gove could never be seen to backtrack on a policy he himself created.