Teachers have called for Bradford Council to scrap its £1 million plan to boost academic achievement in parts of the district.

Teachers' representatives fear the Council's bid to set up an Education Action Zone - which would attract private and public funding - would fail to address basic classroom underfunding.

"Much of what is proposed is outside the classroom and we should be looking at what is going on inside the class," special needs teacher Kathy Linfoot-Smith told members of the education committee last night.

"We still come across classes that are pushing on 40 pupils. We have got to get the core right before we deal with any treats."

The Council is seeking the go-ahead from the Government to establish an Education Action Zone around 20 schools in Tong, Holme Wood, Bierley, East and West Bowling, Little Horton and Grange. The scheme would be privately and publicly funded and operate as an independent body with the Council.

If the plan gets the green light, it will have to meet strict targets such as raising the number of higher grade GCSEs or boosting the number of parents who join learning programmes.

However, Stuart Davies, a teacher at Buttershaw Upper School, said colleagues feared the zone would give private businesses too much control over state education.

But the education committee broadly welcomed the project.

"This is a potential way of improving educational achievement levels across the board for years to come," said Councillor Rowland Dale (Lab, Shipley West). The Council has submitted a 'marker' bid and will learn towards the end of the summer term whether it has been shortlisted.

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