The freedoms that the UK's academy schools have been granted could be curtailed. Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill proposes centralising and standardising decision making across state schools in the UK. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, claims this will improve conditions for every student across the country. Katharine Birbalsingh, who has been called "Britain's strictest headteacher", is highly critical of these developments, calling them cultural Marxism. However, senior educator Leora Cruddas - who leads an organisation representing two thirds of UK academies - has welcomed many of the measures in the bill. Pippa Bailey is joined by Birbalsingh, Cruddas and the New Statesman's Hannah Barnes to discuss who should decide how and what children are taught. Ask a question for us to answer in a future episode: www.newstatesman.com/youaskus Get more politics coverage every day direct to your email inbox by signing up for our daily politics newsletter: morningcall.substack.com Save money on a New Statesman subscription to get full access to all our reporting and analysis from just £5 for your first 5 weeks: www.newstatesman.com/feb25SAVE £££ THIS CHRISTMAS:⭐️ Gift big ideas, bold politics, and proper journalism from just £2LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.