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Academy Schools

Fri, 22/02/2008 - 4:37pm — tynephil

The following is a report from an IWW member who works in the education sector, written just after a public meeting in the sunmmer of 2006.

This evening Sally and I attended a meeting in Oldham to discuss plans to create Academy schools in Oldaham. This will mean the merging of four schools into two - this includes a school we both work at (that's nepotism for you:)).

Basically, the government wants to take comprehensive schools out of the control of local authorities and hand them over to private sponsors to run. They build new schools as part of the deal; the sponsors appoint the head and the governing body. In exchange for the school, we get new conditions of service - more hours - and lose national bargaining rights - lower pay (I know this is simplifying things a lot). One speaker, working at an academy in Greater Manchester, explained that her new school had been deliberately designed without a staffroom!

Speaking at the meeting was Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the NUT.

We handed out the leaflet "An Education Workers Union Is Needed" to about 30 or so people there. I voiced my worries about having to reapply for my job and about the effect of moving kids from a small supportive school to a larger one where they will be faceless.

Steve Sinnott of the NUT talked about taking industrial action but said the NUT was unwilling to take action on the first day a new school opened. Sally responded that that was just the day to do so! he was hostile to both of us. As I had been the "voice of reason", I don't understand why - and Sally was really just stating the bloody obvious, so again I don't understand his hostility - except that it was obvious the NUT is already working out their plan B - which is to unionise the workers in the new Academy schools - a sell-out in the making.

It is clear that there is strength of feeling amongst Oldham teachers about fighting this. We need to spread it to other education workers.

On a positive note, another school is striking this Wednesday over restructuring. This time it looks like UNISON members will refuse to cross their picket lines. This is because the teachers didn't cross the UNISON lines when they were striking over pensions. This is a really brave step by these teachers as they are currently in "Special Measures" (the government's close inspection regime) after failing an OFSTED inspection.