Say No! to Academies
Image not found.
I have repeated the City Teacher article from December's City Teacher to encourage school groups to pass motions in opposition to academies. The Government is determined to push on with its programme despite a much lower response rate than they would have hoped for. It is now encouraging schools to abandon school teachers' pay and conditions as 'one of the key freedoms of academy status'. The threat posed is no less than the compete break up of state education.
Leicester NUT, along with NUT divisions up and down the country, is working to encourage school groups to pass resolutions opposing their school becoming an academy. It is clear, from the government's white paper, that no school is safe from the threat posed by an expansion of the academy programme.
The NUT has produced excellent publicity, highlighting the dangers to our pay and conditions of service, as well as the myths about funding and local authorities. To find out more visit www.teachers.org.uk/academies/.
As soon as your school passes a resolution, please let the local office know. We are starting a roll of honour, listing those schools that have made their statement in opposition to their school becoming an academy. Get your school's name added to the list.
Please pass this or any similar resolution. Inform your head teacher, governors and NUT division/association when you have.
1. This NUT Group believes that the Government's academies and free schools programme would have the negative effects of:
• undermining national pay and conditions for teachers;
• undermining local authorities;
• breaking up common admission arrangements;
• damaging local democratic planning of school places;
• redirecting hundreds of millions of pounds that would be better spent on supporting existing schools.
2. This NUT group believes that:
• the evidence from this country and from abroad is that academies, charter schools and free schools do not improve attainment overall and increase the segregation and exclusion of the poorest and most disadvantaged children;
• there is no good reason for putting the provision of publicly funded education into the hands of private companies who would seek to profit from it.
3. This NUT group therefore agrees to:
• call on our governing body to express its support for the NUT's opposition to any move to academy status and to communicate this opposition to the Government and Local Authority.
Resolution passed by … name of school … NUT Group. Passed on … date.
Roll Of Honour (Schools NUT groups that have passed a resolution opposing academy status)
• Soar Valley College
• Rushey Mead Secondary School
• Riverside Business and Enterprise College