Green Leader Polanski Calls for Education Reforms at NEU Conference

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, delivered a major speech on education reform at the National Education Union's annual conference in Brighton on March 31, calling for increased funding through a wealth tax, the abolition of the Ofsted inspection system, and an end to the expansion of academies. The address, the first by a Green Party leader to the union, received a standing ovation and multiple rounds of applause from delegates.

Polanski described education as being pushed to the brink by underfunding and ideological reorganizations. He highlighted that the UK invests about 4.1 percent of its GDP in education, below the OECD average of nearly 5 percent and trailing countries like Iceland at 5.6 percent and Norway at 6.2 percent. To address this, he pledged a significant cash injection for schools, funded by taxing extreme wealth, to reverse real-terms cuts since 2010 and support children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The speech criticized the academy model as a failed approach that has fragmented the system, reduced accountability, and led to higher teacher turnover. Data from the NEU showed that in large multi-academy trusts, one in five teachers...