The fate of Bradford schools has been sealed after Bradford Council voted overwhelming in favour of ditching the 30-year-old three-tier system.

Nearly four councillors to one (52-14) backed the proposed change to a two-tier system that will replace first, middle and upper schools with primaries and secondaries.

The historic decision by the Council last night marked a watershed in the education of children in Bradford with the ruling Labour Council predicting classroom standards would rise.

Liberal Democrat and Tory councillors united to vote against the recommendation amid allegations that the schools review had been predetermined from the start.

They accused the authority of dishonestly manipulating the facts, producing biased information and failing to provide enough evidence to prove standards would rise under a two-tier system.

But council leader John Ryan, who launched the review last May, said: "Bradford is now poised to make the most fundamental and, in the view of most parents and teachers in this district, the most beneficial change in decades to the way we educate our children.

"Now everyone must pull together to make this work for the benefit of schools and the economic and social well-being of the whole district."

Parents and head teachers who attended the two-and-a-half hour historic council meeting were saddened by the vote, which will mean the closure of up to 70 of the district's 246 existing schools.

John Griffen, whose nine-year-old son Jeremy attends Nab Wood Middle, said: "I would challenge the Council on whether the review is in the interests of financial expediency as opposed to children's education.

"Standards are only as good as the resources that are available and if the Council does not make those resources available you will not have required level of standards."

And Alan Parker, of Heaton Middle, said: "I came to witness the last death throes of a system I believe has benefited children of all ages, cultures and abilities in Bradford.

"Along with all middle school heads, I am disappointed by this decision but I will now do whatever I can for the children in my care and I know my colleagues will too."

But Tory opposition leader Margaret Eaton questioned how a decision could be made without knowing the financial implications for the tax payer. She added: "No one denies we have failing schools but this report does not resolve the problem, it merely tinkers with structures rather like saying, 'If you have a cold, take a dose of malaria'."

Lib Dem councillor David Ward said the review had failed to meet the objectives on which it was originally based, arguing there was insufficient evidence on value for money and levels of achievement.

"The case has not been made that poor educational outcomes are linked with the structure of the school system," he said.

Labour members backed the review's conclusion that Bradford was now out-of-step with most of the rest of the country which has primary and secondary schools. The financial implications of the decision and the impact on individual schools will be announced next Tuesday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.