Dear Editor, Councillor Les Lawrence is right (Birmingham Post, June 3) to express concern that academies will hand the bill for redundant staff to the council.

It is indeed immoral to do this, but quite in line with the ethics shown by Academies feathering their own nests at the expense of children and other schools.

The warning sounded by MP Margot Jones that schools are putting students in for soft option exams to boost their league table positions is echoed by many on the right and left of the political spectrum.

Vocational subjects count for four GCSEs but do not allow students to go on to study A levels.

However it is quite wrong to blame the schools for these policies.

On money, it has been made very clear that the control of budgets is to allow schools to maximise income in a dog-eat-dog environment, while on exam results the Government makes schools compete for league table places.

Indeed, the New Labour policy of demanding 30 per cent GCSE A*-C was approved by Michael Gove on becoming Education Secretary, who raised the threshold to 35 per cent. It is true he now insists on the Ebac policy of five traditional subjects, but this cannot apply till next year at the earliest.

The unions are quite wrong to suggest that the policy having been changed does not damage existing students. Indeed, as the Ebac is not compulsory it is possible for schools to carry on entering students for soft options.

However the change in policy will have far reaching effects, one of which is to put at risk Academies.

The main justification for Academies is that they increase pass rates at 16+ faster than comprehensives.

But once the DFE published the new Ebac league tables, the Academies fell to the bottom of the league tables.

Their dilemma now is to keep entering students for the soft options, or try to compete with comprehensives on Ebac.

They will need every penny they can get out of the council if they are go hire the staff needed for the hard academic subjects. But as the council says, where is the morality in that?

Trevor Fisher,
Stafford.