Topic: | Re:Re:Abusive Comments On This Forum | |
Posted by: | Toby Young | |
Date/Time: | 01/02/11 00:32:00 |
He calls me a "status-seeking zealot" – a well-made point, according to Iain Muir. I call him "incompetent" because he's a teacher who can't spell and I'm an abusive bastard who's lost the plot I think each side now fully understands the other's position and there's little point in continuing this debate. All my group has ever wanted to do is set up an academically rigorous secondary school to which all children in the neighbourhood have access, regardless of income, ability or faith. To that end, my colleagues and I have been working flat out for 18 months, without being paid and without any expectation of being paid, and it now looks almost certain we'll succeed. I accept that some people genuinely believe that local authorities should enjoy a monopoly over taxpayer-funded education and that allowing non-state providers to enter the sector will have a negative impact on the existing family of schools, disrupting the delicate ecology of admissions. I also understand the argument that if taxpayer-funded schools aren't answerable to local authorities there is no guarantee their admissions policies will be fair and that the groups involved in the schools will gerrymander admissions to try and secure an advantage for their own children and those of their friends and those whom they'd like their children to be educated alongside (or whom opponents of the policy imagine the founders would like their children to be educated alongside). I could respond to these and other arguments point by point – and, indeed, have done so countless times in this forum. But it makes no odds. Nothing I say will convince the West London Free School's opponents. I've enjoyed the many debates I've had on this forum and I'm sorry if my occasionally abrasive, combative style has offended anyone. It's now up to me and my colleagues to ensure that the school is fully inclusive and that it delivers an outstanding, classical liberal education without adversely affecting any of the surrounding schools. I'm optimistic we can do that, but I accept that the only way to convince the sceptics will be to actually do it. So forgive me for bowing out of this forum and focusing on creating an excellent school which, I hope, will transform the lives of thousands of children in our part of London. The proof will be in the pudding. |