Comment: Academy wars
Campaigners against a proposed new academy in Swiss Cottage are taking their case to the High Court, alleging that the process of deciding a new sponsor for the school should have been more open. Their approach is mistaken - but it may foreshadow future battles, as opponents of academies turn to the courts to block the new schools.
As matters stand, the sponsor of the Swiss Cottage school would be University College London. UCL is hardly getting involved for the sake of profit. Instead, it is trying to promote high-quality education of a kind that is all too rare in the capital, where many state secondaries underperform. The goodwill and expertise of the university's staff could do much for pupils. UCL deserves credit for taking this initiative. Instead of gratitude, however, the university faces expensive and unnecessary litigation. Admittedly, there are concerns that a new academy on the Swiss Cottage site could mean that special schools and a school for the deaf would have to move, but these cannot be met in a court of law.
The academy programme has a mixed record. But it brings outside expertise and energy to failing schools. Instead of wasting time and money preventing children in north London getting a promising new secondary, the campaigners should abandon their legal challenge.
