It is great to see the Financial Times take up the case for school choice, as exists in Sweden. Taking schools out of the hands of politicians and giving control back to parents and teachers:
"Despite endless cant about “choice”, the UK educational system stifles competition. In most areas of the country, local schools are closely controlled by a single local educational authority. They are cartels that actively prevent schools from competing.
In Sweden, good schools can expand and anyone can set one up. Both are technically possible in the UK, but local government rules advise against them if they mean more unfilled places at local schools. Banning the creation of extra places guarantees that children at bad schools have nowhere to go and stamps out competition.
Mechanisms for paying good teachers more than bad teachers and rewarding rarer skills (such as maths and science) are also too weak. Effective educational reform should mean an end to uniform national pay deals for teachers.
The evidence suggests that adopting the Swedish model would make the average UK school better, and lift weaker schools most of all."