Freedom is a great word, right? From William Wallace to Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks to Nelson Mandela, the history books are full of stories of those who have battled against the odds to release a group from the shackles of a larger organisation.

But, despite being in charge of what is taught in the classroom, education secretary Michael Gove will go down in the annals as one of history’s most hated freedom fighters.

His personal crusade to give schools independence away from town hall control has alienated teachers, parents and trade unionists up and down the country.

It’s gone so far that voodoo-style dolls of Gove’s head are now being created in Brighton for sewers to stick pins in him.

But does he care about a little bit of needling? Absolutely not.

With a little more than 18 months left of his stint in the top job at the Department of Education he has fundamentally changed how schools work.

Gove has been dominating the playground games as Labour and the other parties are left without a ball to play with.

His work in expanding the academy and free school programme has been so successful that now even those on the benches opposite him in Parliament agree that the work is irreversible.

Speaking to a national newspaper, the new shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt, said: “We will keep those free schools going. We aren’t in the business of taking them down.”

Well you can’t get any clearer than that. But, locally, the battle over academies is only just warming up.

Contrast In West Sussex, the local authority – no doubt keen to earn a sticker from Mr Gove – is working towards every school in the area becoming a free school or academy.

In contrast the Green-led Brighton and Hove City Council has moved the other way and vehemently against them.

They point to how members of staff at recently-converted schools across the country have left in their droves as there are no standard terms and conditions. They claim it leads to the creation of a two-tier education system.

They claim founders of free schools have no previous background in the education sector. They claim it means there is a loss of local planning when it comes to providing school places.

But what is the alternative?

Sure, local authorities across the country can say they oppose such a measure. But how exactly are they going to fight it when the government holds the purse strings?

In Brighton and Hove, local opposition to the King’s School did not stop it from opening in September.

At the primary level, we have the Brighton Bilingual School based for now at the former Falmer High and the newly-opened City Academy Whitehawk.

And more are in the pipeline, whether they are completely new, like the bilingual school, or based on existing ones, like the former Whitehawk primary.

Now comes the issue of where the land for these schools comes from – and that can only be done if everyone puts down their weapons of war and calls a cease fire.

For too long, councils have been controlling parents, happy to issue diktats from their cosy offices while pushing more work onto those who just want to support children in their learning.

Speaking to teacher friends, it seems that their biggest criticism of Gove’s reforms is the unknown.

But by forming an alliance, opponents and advocates can create the accountability that Gove’s reforms need.