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New, by me, on the disastrous impact the imposition of VAT on school fees has had - on both sectors. substack.com/home/post/p-20…
David James
15.1K posts
David James
@drdavidajames
I write about schools; Co-editor: 'The State of Independence' | The Critic | CapX | The Oldie | UnHerd | Spectator. 'Schools of Thought' (Bloomsbury) out now.
- Note to the Brontë Museum: he is a fictional character.
- Wouldn’t it be exciting if, in under a year, we had @jessphillips as leader of the Labour Party and @RoryStewartUK as leader of the Conservatives? We could almost be optimistic about having principled politicians in charge again.
- Wait a minute...so VAT on fees is not about schools but was done to fund new houses? That's a blatant betrayal of a key manifesto promise. @Keir_Starmer @bphillipsonMP
- Emma keeping it real on the gritty streets of West Hampstead.
- For a Secretary of State to show such a dislike of schools is still shocking to read.Our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery. Our children need mental health support more than private schools need new pools. Our students need careers advice more than private schools need AstroTurf pitches. inews.co.uk/news/private-s…
- Entirely predictable. VAT has gained the state sector nothing. In fact 11K pupils have left independent schools and joined the state sector so they are under more strain.
- I should add that these are of course false dichotomies. Independent schools having fewer pools will not result in state schools having more mental health professionals. But it shows the VAT on fees is about politics not education.Our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery. Our children need mental health support more than private schools need new pools. Our students need careers advice more than private schools need AstroTurf pitches. inews.co.uk/news/private-s…
- Those tweets by teachers showing how many books on teaching they are going to read over the Summer are a bit sad. Forget about the job for a bit: read fiction, poetry, anything but books about pedagogy.
- How reductive and lazy it is to refer to two of the greatest writers to have ever lived as ‘dead white males’.
- Am I alone in being depressed not about government ministers taking freebies to see concerts, but that the concerts they choose to go to are so lacking in any real artistic merit: they have the taste of teenagers. Shouldn't we expect more from our political leaders?
- Independent schools closing, 13k pupils joining state sector, no material benefit to anyone.Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has backtracked on a key element of her flagship pledge to recruit 6,500 'new' teachers – confirming that they won’t all be new buff.ly/tCgILca
- Another school closure. @bphillipsonMP must be delighted with the job losses, the pupils joining state schools, the friendship groups broken up.
- Whitehall ‘braced for private schools collapse’ due to fee rises thetimes.com/article/e6465c…
