WE demand that Bolton Council immediately abandons any plans to close Hayward School, Withins School and Top o’ th’ Brow School in order to replace them with academies.

There is no evidence that academies are more successful than schools remaining within local authority control. No real studies have been conducted. Some are good; some are awful.

Given the huge amounts of money spent on them, the returns have been disappointing and suggest that the vast sums of extra money used to create academies could have been better spent on, for example, reducing class sizes.

In addition, the removal of schools from local authority control will lead to a breakdown of integrated educational provision in Bolton.

This is already happening in some areas, such as special educational needs and staff training. Academies will hasten this process.

The motives for establishing academies are not educational, but ideological. They are part of a broader plan to put education into private hands and to create an educational market place.

This whole project is based on the assumption that private and autonomous is good and public and accountable is bad.

There has been no public debate about either the truth or the desirability of this.

The current state of the privately controlled banking system and the taxpayer-funded government bail-outs would indicate that a frank and open appraisal of this programme is a minimum precursor to any handing over of public assets.

Academies are undemocratic. They operate outside any sort of local authority control.

This means that parents have no say in how their schools are run. Decisions regarding intake, staffing and curriculum are made by governors nominated by the sponsors.

There is no longer a right of appeal to the local authority, either directly or through your councillor.

The consultation process is little more than a propaganda exercise aimed at forcing the programme through.

The promise of an expensive new building is used to override all other objections.

Academies require the transfer of public assets to private sponsors. No public discussion has taken place about this.

These assets include sports facilities, many of which are dual-use and open to the public in the evenings and at weekends. Communities will lose the use of these facilities.

Academies wishing to start their own sixth forms — as many have in other areas — undermine planned 14-19 provision already in place.

Chris Chilton, head of special needs, Harper Green School; Cllr Roger Hayes; Cllr Carole Swarbrick; Cllr Barbara Ronson; Cllr Stephen Rock; Cllr Robert Ronson; Cllr John Rothwell; Cllr Margaret Rothwell; Cllr Julia Silvester; Cllr David Wilkinson; Tony Benn; John McDonnell MP; Ian Gibson MP; Alan Johnson, chairman of Bolton Green Party; Dave Mann, Bolton Green Party; Joe Whittaker, senior lecturer in the department of education at the University of Bolton; Denis Pye, teacher at Smithills School, former teacher representative on Bolton Education Committee, retired senior lecturer in education at Manchester Polytechnic; Sylvan Davies, 20 years teaching in Bolton secondary schools; Julia Simpkin, Bolton primary teacher for 30 years; Cath Ryde, advisory teacher; Paul Maurins, lecturer at the University of Bolton; George Heyes, lecturer at Bolton Community College; Cybil Westwood, 30 years teaching in Lancashire schools; Wendy Pye, former nursery teacher and Workers Education Association teacher; Rachel Mann, qualified teacher working in learner support at the University of Bolton; Malcolm Pittock, retired university history lecturer; Steve Harrold, former Bolton teacher; Moira Hill, retired teacher at Deane School; Martin Gallagher, deputy head at Firwood School; Jason Travis, Bolton TUC; Sue Reddington, teachers’ union rep; Karl Widdows, NUT rep at Harper Green School; Alan Gibbons, children’s author; Phil Roberts, NUT rep and governor at Withins School; Melanie Wharton, NASUWT rep at Withins School; Philip Austin, former assistant SEN coordinator at Withins School; Elaine Cross, retired Bolton teacher; Andy Beardwood, headteacher at Compass Centre South Pupil Referral Unit; Vincent Flute, Bolton teacher; Ian Connor, Bolton NUT rep; Alwynne Cartmell, Bolton teacher; Eric Brierley, retired after 22 years at Deane School