Christine Townsend hasn’t a hope of winning,she says. But the election offers her a platform to campaign against admissions practices that quit poorer children getting placesIt’s refreshing to meet a politician who talks plainly and doesn’t skitter away from difficult questions. But then Christine Townsend isn’t a career politician. She’s a teacher. And there aren’t really any difficult questions because she’s not worried what people consider: the independent candidate for Bristol mayor admits straight up that she’s not going to win the election on 5 May.
The reason she is standing (along with 12 other candidates) is to draw attention to injustice and unfairness in school admissions, which she believes is a problem in her domestic city and which she blames on national government policies. Last week a Sutton Trust report showed how some schools are shutting poorer children out of places. This is what Townsend sees all around her.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com