So desperate are ministers to make trust schools look popular that some odd institutions appear on the list of 70 revealed to have expressed an interest in the scheme (thank you, Liberal Democrats and Freedom of Information Act). Barely 20 are schools that could turn themselves into trusts and some of those appear to have had no more than a passing interest, or none at all. Some aren’t even schools. Lewisham college, for instance, was a further education college last time we looked. So its sparky principal Ruth Silver was tickled to be described as “the school’s principal” in The Guardian - but not tickled enough to want to change sectors. And she has never had any contact with the Department for Education and Skills over trust schools. The college had received an invitation from Lewisham council to attend the launch of the white paper at the department, she said. Could that be counted as expressing an interest?
