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Vote for education on 5 May

The NASUWT is campaigning for:

Pay, pensions and conditions of service

• commitment to maintaining a national framework for pay and conditions of service;
• no reduction or deterioration in public sector pensions;
• action to ensure the provisions of the McCrone Agreement are being honoured by all schools;
• the removal of barriers to accessing higher salaries for classroom teachers by revising the Chartered Teachers Scheme.

Funding

• protection for public services from funding cuts;
• an increase in real terms year on year investment in schools and colleges;
• a commitment to honouring the Scottish Government’s pledge to cut class sizes to 18 pupils or fewer in P1 to P3;
• the preservation of rural schools;
• protection and promotion of state education by opposing the creation of academies and free schools in Scotland.

Pupil Behaviour and Discipline

• the entitlement of school staff and students to learn and work in an environment free from violence and disruption;
• for principals to be empowered to exercise their professional judgement in the use of exclusion;
• the requirement for all schools to establish behaviour policies and strategies to support the work of classroom teachers;
• action to stop cyberbullying.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

• a diverse range of high-quality provision for every child with SEN within a genuinely inclusive education service;
• SEN policy which is based on objective assessments of children’s needs and how they will be met. Policy should not be distorted by preconceived ideological notions that assume that inclusion in mainstream schools, regardless of circumstances, is necessarily better.

Equalities

• an education system that tackles discrimination and is actively committed to genuine equality of opportunity;
• a statutory duty on employers of teachers to deliver genuine equality of opportunity and to tackle all forms of workplace discrimination, without exception;
• a ban on members of racist and fascist organisations from working in schools and colleges.

Further information on the impact of the spending cuts, the NASUWT’s 10-point alternative plan for reducing the financial deficit and the latest updates from across the UK on the threats to education are available on the NASUWT’s Championing education webpage at www.nasuwt.org.uk/ChampioningEducation

Vote for Education

National elections are taking place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on 5 May 2011. As with this year’s General Election, the NASUWT will be running its Vote for Education campaign to inform members to support them in using their vote to promote and protect education. This is particularly critical in light of the severe cuts facing education and teachers’ pay and conditions.

The NASUWT has already begun attending each regional party political conference to lobby politicians and press them on their commitments around education and this work will continue right up until the election.

Members will be receiving much more information and advice in the run up to the May elections, including analysis of each party’s manifesto commitments.

The NASUWT will be launching dedicated web pages to support the campaign and will be encouraging members to use social networking to get involved and share their views with other members and the Union.