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Upfront
State education ConDem-ed
Sweeping cuts, damaging changes
In its first 50 days, the coalition government has pushed out a raft of cuts and new policies that will have a dramatic impact on state education. Many look set to have a detrimental effect on teachers, schools and pupils – particularly the most disadvantaged. The Teacher summarises what’s happening.
Academies
The new government plans a massive expansion of the academies programme, despite lack of evidence that academies raise attainment or standards. Education Secretary Michael Gove has invited all special, primary and secondary schools graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted to fast-track to academy status from as early as this September.
Once a school becomes an academy, it loses the support and protection of the local authority. The expansion of the programme will also transfer billions of pounds of public assets, in the form of buildings and land, out of public hands.
Teachers in academies are not covered by national agreements on pay and working conditions (though transferred staff have protection under TUPE legislation).
The most urgent problem is that the Academies Bill contains no requirement for consultation with staff or parents before governors decide to convert to academy status. The NUT, sister teaching unions ATL and NASUWT, and support staff unions GMB, Unison and Unite, are working together to draw attention to concerns about these proposals – in particular the lack of consultation.
Jon Trickett MP has tabled an Early Day Motion highlighting problems with the Academies Bill. We urge all members to email their MPs through the NUT website
www.teachers.org.uk/academies, pressing them to sign it.
Almost 1,600 schools have already enquired about becoming academies. If yours is one of them, act fast. Get in touch with your NUT association/division secretary for support, and make use of the model letters, posters, FAQs, petitions and other materials downloadable from the NUT website at
www.teachers.org.uk/academies.
• Read more about the Academies Bill and how it might affect you on pages 12-13 and 22.
Free schools
One of the new government’s flagship education policies is to allow parents and other groups to establish Swedish-style ‘free schools’ – independent schools funded with public money. Planning laws and building regulations are being relaxed so they can be set up in former homes, shops and offices.
In Sweden, free schools have exacerbated social division. Sweden’s National Agency for Education reports research showing “fairly unambiguously that segregation has increased”. Like academies, free schools would operate independently of the local authority and not be bound by national agreements on pay and conditions.
Despite government reassurances that free schools will not be run for profit, there is a strong possibility that their governing bodies could contract out aspects of running the school to private companies in return for management fees.
NUT general secretary Christine Blower called the free-schools project “a fundamental waste of money at a time when proposed cuts mean schools will need every penny they can get”.
• Read more about free schools on page12.
Education spending
Chancellor George Osborne has said that education spending could be cut by as much as 25 per cent over the next four years. Funding to local authorities for non-school spending – including youth and community services and other initiatives that support schools and students – is already being slashed. Universities are facing cuts of £1.2bn between now and 2013.
“Cutting funding for schools and related services will irretrievably harm children and young people, particularly the poorest,”
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