Even Professor Kate Jacques, pro-vice chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire and a long-time advocate of the two tier system admits: "Parents like middle schools. It means their children can be in a primary school environment for longer. And pupils like it because while they are at middle school the pressure isn't on."

So what is driving the two tier campaign?

Poor exam results, particularly in Bedford and Kempston.

Bedfordshire has been under-performing in GCSEs for years and the present three tier system is being used to explain why Bedfordshire is below the national average.

County's view is that it is not a problem with the schools, but a problem with the three-tier system. Not that all schools performing below the national average are three tier - far from it. But that fact seems to have escaped their notice.

If the change takes place and schools in Bedford and Kempston continue to perform badly the mere fact of the change itself can be used to defend the local educational establishment from blame in two ways.

Firstly, the change shows that "something is being done."

Secondly, the process of change is known to damage the education of the children caught up in it, so it will be "too soon to make an informed judgment."

There is also a false impression that Bedfordshire and the Isle of Wight are the only education authorities to still run this three tier system - as reported by Luton Today on 1st May - and are behind the times in doing so.

Currently England has 315 middle schools including 32 in Harrow; 23 in Worcestershire; 19 in West Sussex; 14 in Staffordshire and 14 in Dorset. None of these face closure.

And middle schools are increasingly common in the US, rising from just over 2,000 middle schools in 1970-71 to just over 12,000 in 2002-03.

If the structure is winning hearts and minds in the US, why are we rushing headlong in the other direction?

Blaming the system doesn't hold water. As a result of the Newcastle Commission we now know more about the relative importance of LEAs in changing the attainment level of pupils.

Professor Peter Tymms of the Curriculum Evaluation and Management Centre, Durham University says, "The quantitative analyses concluded that by far the most important part of the educational system is the teachers and that the most important thing an LEA can do is to enhance the quality of teaching in the classroom."

County cannot escape responsibility. The children are failing only after the County has failed to support adequately the schools and the teachers.

The £100 million earmarked to make the change in Bedford and Kempston will go a long way to financing a more imaginative initiative than moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Isn't it time to stop, think again and find a better way to spend £100 million in support of education in Bedford?