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Spot the difference: How much money can a free school make?

May 29, 2012 4:21 pm

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As Political Scrapbook noted this afternoon:

“Michael Gove uses the Leveson Inquiry as a platform to float right-wing education reforms, telling the court schools “could” be profit making “when we come to that bridge.””

But as George Eaton noted at the New Statesman, Gove told Andrew Marr only last year:

“Nick (Clegg) and I are completely in agreement on this (banning for-profit free schools). It’s not an issue.

The Conservative election manifesto said that we don’t need to have profit at the moment, the Liberal Democrat manifesto said that we don’t need profit at the moment and we don’t.”

For the moment? So if the Tories are re-elected, will you send your kinds to a clear profit motive and a healthy return for shareholders?

Related posts:

  1. Ed Balls invites local authorities to bid for money for universal free school meals pilots
  2. Free schools, or young people on free school meals?
  3. When a Free School comes to town
  4. A Free School for some – paid for by all
  5. Spot the difference: Hiding Huhne’s greatest u-turn
  • David Bean

    What on earth is that last sentence supposed to mean?

    • AnotherOldBoy

      No idea: maybe it woudl have made sense had Mr Ferguson gone to a school run for profit?

  • AnotherOldBoy

    Some private schools are run by for-profit organisations and are very poplular with parents and appear to achieve good results for their pupils.  Indeed, the desire to make a profit will lead a company which runs schools to want to do so well so as to attract further pupils and make further profits.

    Meanwhile, in the real world many companies make profits out of state school education: publishers, manufacturers of school furniture, building contractors, coach operators, stationary suppliers etc. etc.

    • trotters1957

      Neo-liberal fantasy economics.
      It’s impossible to manufacture a situation where there can be free market in schooling.  Think of the disaster that has been railway privatisation and then multiply it by 500.
      Schools will have local monopolies, most parents, as now, will have very little choice over which school to send their children to.
      We all know what private sector monopolies do, don’t we. Worse service, higher costs.
      Dream on.

      • AnotherOldBoy

        But who said anything about there being a private sector monopoly?  The present position is that private schools are a not a monopoly, but a variety of charitable foundations, for-profit organisations and so on.

        • trotters1957

          Sorry that’s not a cogent or coherent response.
          Where I live there are only enough pupils for two schools. Under your idea they would compete against each other with profitability being the driving force.
          They would have a duopoly of supply.
          If they didn’t make a profit they would close.

          Its neo-liberal fantasy to believe any improvement in education could result from this. 

          • AnotherOldBoy

            And which of the two schools is better?

          • Hugh

            “they would compete against each other with profitability being the driving force.”

            Organisations compete on quality and price, not profit – that’s the result. Given that they can’t alter the price the one delivering the best quality within the budget (as schools now are constrained by budgets) would attract more pupils. What’s so fantastical about that?

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