The education secretary's renewed attack on England's comprehensive schools has drawn a welter of criticism from teachers and education campaigners.

There was particular anger for Estelle Morris's comment that, as a teacher, there were some comprehensives she would like to work in and some she "wouldn't touch with a bargepole".

The general secretary of the biggest teaching union, the NUT, Doug McAvoy, called this an "outrageous" statement which ill became an education secretary.

"Our teachers devote their energies to doing the utmost for their pupils," he said.

"Her statement will leave many of them asking if she would not teach here, why should they.

'Demoralising'

"She has opened the door to speculation on the reasons why she would refuse to teach in certain schools. She should identify those factors.

"Her statement is demoralising and ignores the efforts made by our teachers, many of whom work in extremely difficult circumstances."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said it would not be issuing a list of the schools Ms Morris had had in mind.

But he said parents could refer to such things as performance tables and Ofsted inspection reports.

Backhanded compliment

Estelle Morris's argument that there needed to be greater diversity in the system did receive some support - from her Conservative opposite number, Damian Green.

He said he was pleased that she was acknowledging that the present system was not working.

But he said the government had a great tendency to say one thing and do the exact opposite - in education's case, trying to centralise everything.

"Estelle Morris is saying the system has failed - I hope she sees the logic of her own speech."

Support for specialism

Ms Morris's jibe about comprehensives was made in a speech in which she reiterated her ideal of every school becoming a specialist in one subject or another.

Firth Park Community College is an arts specialist in Sheffield..

Mo Laycock: Whole school benefits

"I came into a school where it was very clear quite quickly that our children excelled at the arts," said the head teacher, Mo Laycock.

So that aspect of the curriculum had been enhanced - but so had every other area - by gaining specialist status, she said.

"It was the clear way to go in terms of helping with their self-esteem and aspirations."

At Moulsham High School in Chelmsford the head, Chris Nicholls, is not persuaded.

'Divisive'

"I think it will create a two-tier system," Dr Nicholls said.

Chris Nicholls: Two-tier system

"That may not be the longer term intention - it may well be that they have plans for all schools to become specialist.

"But the way that you have to become specialist at the moment, inevitably the best will succeed, the others will not."

The general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Peter Smith, rasied the spectre of "sneaking in academic selection through the back door".

And the leader of the NASUWT union also stressed the way specialist schools reintroduce selection by being able to pick up to 10% of their students on the basis of their "aptitude" for the specialist subject.

Eamonn O'Kane said that in doing so, Labour were beginning to undermine one of the principles of the education system.

'Lack of money'

Margaret Tulloch of the Campaign for State Education said she supported the aim of entitlement for all children, and the government's previously expressed aims of higher standards and social inclusion.

"But how can these aims be met while current government policy is to allow only sufficient money for half of the secondary schools to have the extra funding which specialist status brings?" she said.

And she complained that the government was failing to take the lead on ending formal selection at the age of 11, which still affects many children.