The first of two special issues of Race Equality Teaching has now been published, moving beyond race equality and covering the full equalities agenda in education. The nine articles in this special issue are arranged around the three “arms” of the public sector equality duty (Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010): to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have and people who do not have the protected characteristics covered by the Act. The editorial has been written as an open message to political leaders on the urgent need to better promote equality in education. Personalised copies of this issue will be sent to political leaders and to bodies such as Ofsted and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The second special issue is due to be published later this year.

This RET special issue includes an article by CSIE director Artemi Sakellariadis, entitled “Issuing a ticket but keeping the door locked: the need for real change on disability equality”. The article describes the postcode lottery for disabled children confirmed by the recent Trends report, highlights the vicious circle of not developing provision because such provision has not been developed before, and suggests that the government’s promise of parental choice of school will remain hollow, until schools are offered support and incentives to include disabled children and young people. “After all,” the article concludes, “offering an entitlement without developing capacity is like issuing a ticket but keeping the door locked.”

In a recent blogpost, RET editor Gillian Klein explains why policy-makers cannot deal with the multiple challenges currently facing schools, unless they put equality at the heart of all they do. This resonates with CSIE’s recent blogpost, which says that investing time and energy to promote equality in schools is not only a moral and legal obligation, it also places pupils in a far better position to learn.