Birmingham teachers with strong ideological objections to the Government’s academies programme are being offered a job-swap deal so they don’t have to compromise their principles.
The city council has said teachers will be able to request a transfer to another school in the authority when their current school becomes an academy. The offer is also open to classroom assistants and auxiliary staff.
Four Birmingham secondaries - Heartlands, Shenley, St Albans and King Edward VI Sheldon - will reopen as academies in the next three years.
Governors at a fifth school, North Birmingham, have voted in favour of academy status.
The council hopes that by allowing teachers to transfer from these schools, it will placate local union officials, who are opposed to the academies programme.
Les Lawrence, Birmingham cabinet member for education, called the proposal the “final piece in the jigsaw” and said it showed the council’s willingness to listen to teachers’ views.
But the council cannot guarantee that all teachers will be able to transfer. The ultimate decision for any appointments will remain with each school’s headteacher and board of governors. ab.
