Several Kirklees schools are due to become academies to join others in the area that have already successfully gone through the process, but unions have now claimed several of them bullied and misled parents into becoming academies. But the issue has sparked plenty of controversy and has got people talking on the Examiner forums.

“I for one am pleased that the unions have brought these issues to light as the pursuit of academy status by headteachers and governors has been done with very indecent haste.

“Let us not forget also the financial implications for headteachers who can also earn a lot more money as head of an academy school.

“Parents have been ignored in a high-minded manner by both headteachers and governors and when this ‘pack of cards’ falls down I hope they are held responsible for their hasty actions.”

Nougat: “Could be a covert way of getting rid of the unions but teachers are in a vulnerable position and face vindictive allegations and physical abuse with alarming regularity.

“Who wants to work in an environment where existing pay and conditions agreements don’t need to be met and without any protection?

“How is this going to tempt good people into the profession?”

anneb: “We must remember that wonderful phrase ‘a good practice in consultative processes’ – otherwise known as take it or leave it – by claiming extra money from the government on top of what they already get seems a good idea, in theory, but what happens when it stops?

“As for jobs being at risk, it will happen. You cannot stop what has to happen, only delay it. “I hope these schools that think they have got on to a good thing are still able to produce satisfactory school table results in the future and the children are not made to pay for their elders’ follies.”

ABywater: “Having submitted my views to a consultation into a school becoming an academy (not one named in the story) I can say 100% that my views were not listened to and my questions not answered.

“What I want to know is why the schools acted with such urgency?

“It was all done so quickly that no-one could stand back and look at the wider picture.

“In the short term they might get a cash boost and the school runs as it did last year, but what about the future with no local authority to fall back on to?”