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David WardMember of Parliament for Bradford East@DavidWardMP on Twitter and Facebook |
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Another Galloway Gaffe
June 19, 2012 11:51 AM
George Galloway's simplistic, ill-informed attack on all the staff working in our Secondary schools with attainment rates below the national
average is thoughtless and grossly unfair on those staff who are dealing with pupils and students from some of the most deprived backgrounds in the country.
The last ten years has seen a deterioration in the wealth of the District and an ever increasing growth in the numbers of children living in deprived communities. Against this challenging backdrop and thanks to the sterling work of our teachers we have achieved year on year improvements in attainment levels in Bradford's schools.
However, this improvement has been mirrored by rising attainment levels nationally, resulting in our position in the national league table remaining the same. It is a ridiculous and typically extremist analysis from Galloway to claim that children in schools with attainment levels below the national average are condemned to a future of ignorance.
We must always have high aspirations and never accept that schools serving deprived communities cannot be continuously improved - and they are being. But it does not help the staff in these schools to be branded as failures by a part-time MP with a two-minute understanding of local issues.