It was inevitable the schools crisis in Croydon would claim a high-profile casualty sooner rather than later.
I had expected one of the head teachers at the schools involved in the recent controversies to act as sacrificial lamb, so I was quite surprised to learn it was the council's education director Peter Wylie who would be leaving his post.
Officially, of course, he is retiring but you don't need an advanced degree in management double speak to read between the lines.
Of course, Mr Wylie is no more personally responsible for the latest round of school stabbings and sex videos than you or I - the blame for those lies, as always, with some of our oiky pupils.
But the education service clearly has deep-rooted problems, and it can only be right that the council is seen to take decisive action.
Education features heavily in this week's Advertiser, as does - inevitably - crime.
The Shrublands stabbing - along with various other incidents this week - has led me to write what could potentially be seen as the world's laziest headline, but it was the only way I could think of to sum things up.
Still, it's not all misery for me today. I'm about to head into a meeting about Croydon in Bloom. Lovely!
2 comments:
Thats really not fair. Peter Wylie has been a very good Education Chief. What do you expect from an under funded education department? Look how much the administration took out of school improvement budget last year - from what was already a very tight budget.
Peter Wylie may have been coasting a bit, but how will it help the many schools in real crisis not to have an experienced education chief in place for months to come?
Politicians have to take responsibility too. The only thing that the Cabinet member for Education has been able to do in Croydon has been to shout and rant at local schools in trouble.
Schools need long term support, not short term solutions.
Frankly, I expect a bit more than this from the Advertiser!
Like I said, I don't blame him personally. But he is still the highest-ranking council officer in that particular department, and sometimes the buck has to stop at the top.
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