Express
July 28, 2014
A HEAD teacher forced out of his school by Trojan horse extremists last night said he felt betrayed by the council which he claims did nothing to stop the plot.
The teacher broke his silence to tell of his ordeal at the hands of his own school governors.
He said the governors sought to control his inner-city school, including bringing in Islamic worship each morning.
When he objected he claims they conspired to force him out and replace him with a Muslim head.
He told the council what was happening and was offered no support. Later he was told to resign by council bosses.
Now he has decided to speak out despite being banned from discussing his ordeal after signing a compromise agreement.
Last night the teacher, who did not wish to be named, spoke of the betrayal he felt by Birmingham City Council which failed to stand up to the bullying governors at his school.
He said: “It was bullying and I told the local authority I was being bullied and they did nothing to stop it and eventually asked me to leave rather than taking action against the governors. It felt like a bit of a betrayal.”
The head first ran into difficulties with his governing body after the appointment of a new Muslim chairman.
He said: “From there on relations were never the same again and gradually went down hill.
“They would collude over meetings and would make sure to orchestrate situations where the only people present were the troublesome Muslim governors and myself so they would try to browbeat me into doing what they wanted.
“What they wanted was Islamic worship every day for all students.
“Ultimately the governors wanted the Islamifaction of the school. I am sure they wanted to get rid of me and get a new Muslim head teacher in.”
The head took the difficult decision to talk to the local authority and demand action be taken against the governing body.
“I spoke to the local authority numerous times and I was told that if things ever got too bad they would step in but then they didn’t and it was at that point it became clear that I was going to have to leave.”
On the day the head was asked to tender his resignation, he was under the impression the local authority was finally going to intervene.
He said: “I thought I was going to talk to the local authority about the steps they were going to take to tackle the governing body but as it turned out, they said, ‘No, you will have to resign’.”
The teacher also believes had he been free to speak up, other teachers may not have had to suffer the same ordeal.
In all, 25 schools in Birmingham have been linked with the alleged Trojan horse takeover plot. Now the former head has backed up claims made by Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood last week that those teachers forced out of Birmingham schools could sue the council for failure in its duty of care towards them.