MP's fury over specialist schools

WARRINGTON North MP Helen Jones has reacted with outrage at what she claims is a Government decision to scrap specialist schools.
Twelve schools in Warrington will lose specialist school status – and the extra funding it attracts, she said.
But some school heads have welcomed the changes, claiming it will mean schools will receive the same funding and will have more freedom on how they spend it.
Ms Jones (pictured) said education secretary Michael Gove’s decision to take away the specialist school status of Warrington – and other – schools was a “slap in the face” for pupils and teachers.
She said: “All the hard-work and dedication they have invested in making their schools excel could be at risk.
“Twelve Warrington schools will lose their specialist status and the direct funding that goes with it. For schools like Birchwood, which received the highest Ofsted rating partly as a result of its specialist status, this is madness.
“Allowing schools to register as specialist schools means that they can choose an area to specialise in themselves. Michael Gove’s new system will mean the funding will be sent through the council and will be spread around all schools rather than sent directly to the schools that need it.”
Warrington’s specialist schools are: Birchwood High – Business and Enterprise;
Bridgewater High – Arts; Cardinal Newman RC High – Maths and Computing; Culcheth High – Humanities; Great Sankey High – Engineering; Lymm High – Language;
Lysander High – Technology; Penketh High – Arts; Sir Thomas Boteler CE High – Music; St Gregory’s High – Humanities; William Beamont High – Sports; Woolston High – Science.
Mr Gove has stressed that specialist schools’ funding – currently about £450 million – would not be removed from the schools system but would continue to be routed to schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant.
Schools would no longer be required to designate or re-designate as specialist, removing a bureaucratic burden.
From next April, all schools would be able to decide how to develop their specialisms in the light of the total resources available to them.
One specialist school head welcomed the news because he believed in future they would be able to use their funding on subjects other than their specialisms.
He said: “It means the schools will still have the money, but they can spend it on other priorities.
“Michael Gove is giving teachers the power to spend the money beyond their original ring-fencing.
“It’s relatively good news because it’s devolving more power to schools.”
But he admitted he had to “take the Government at its word” about how much schools would get from April.