Labour’s city academy schools aren’t finding much favour with head teachers:

Only 6% of headteachers support Tony Blair’s controversial plans to build more city academy schools, according to an EducationGuardian/ICM poll.

The findings come after the prime minister brushed aside criticism of the £5bn academy programme yesterday, insisting “parent power” would fuel its expansion.

It found that 57% of headteachers in England believe the government listens to few of their needs, while 27% say the government does not listen at all.

The poll also shows that only 6% of headteachers support academies, with 43% opposed and 40% unsure.

What teachers want and what the government wants are at odds with each other:

The government’s plans to hand greater power to parents in the running of schools - likely to be outlined in a schools white paper later in the autumn - also receive a lukewarm response. Just 1% of headteachers are interested in parents having greater involvement in the management of schools.

However, there is overwhelming support for parents exerting a greater influence at home. Many headteachers are keen to see parents enforcing discipline at home (42%) and ensuring attendance at school (35%), but these figures leap to more than 60% in favour of parents teaching moral values and social skills at home.

Oh, well - they’re just teachers so what do they know? But what does Blair see as being the point of the academies?

“The purpose is very simple: fairness and opportunity for all. Public services exist so that those who cannot afford to buy good healthcare or schooling are not at a disadvantage.”

AKA social engineering. Why no mention of a school’s real function - learning to read and write?

Oops - that might be because they actually aren’t doing so well at that bit…