Were it not for the Lib Dems, profit-making free schools would likely have already been introduced by Michael Gove. The Education Secretary has long made his attraction to the idea clear, stating in May 2012 that they could be established under a Conservative majority government. He said then: “There are some of my colleagues in the coalition who are very sceptical of the benefits of profit. I have an open mind. I believe that it may be the case that we can augment the quality of state education by extending the range of people involved in its provision.” Many of Gove’s allies believe that it is only once the profit motive is introduced to the system (as it was in Sweden) that free schools will be able to open at the rate required to deal with the school places crisis.
This raises the question of whether the Conservative manifesto will endorse the idea. In his speech at the Fabian Society today, Tristram Hunt will call the Tories’ bluff, declaring that “Beyond 2015, whether it admits it or not, the Conservative Party intends to introduce the profit motive into English education”. He will attack “the aggressively competitive, fly-or-fail ethos that the Conservative Party aspires to bring to our school system” and warn that “There is almost no public policy… with more capacity to damage the fabric of our society – let alone the educational values we cherish.”
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