RONNIE HELD looks at the Tories' manifesto commitments.
GIVE TEACHERS back thair negotiating
rights and peace will be restored in schools. Su ran the message on the front page of the NUT's weekly newspaper on 15 June. Pleas such as these to the Tories sound hollow in the light of their clection victory. Hollow also the words nf acting NUT secretary MacAvay to thc Guardian on 13 June: he baldly stated that strike action was to be called oil, since privatisation and selection were apparently more important! As though the two could be neally separated! And, typically, the NUT leadership chose to tell the Guardian readership their strategy before consulting the membership.
There is no doubt that it has been the icachers consistent campaigning which made education a key clection issue.
Election leaflets published by the NUT make the government record on eduration 'speak for itsell" as their bearing states.
During the secund period of Tory rule, the government's record of achievement stare schooling is the following. • they have spent 134 million on "assisting" middle class parents in getting their children to private schools, whilst giving state schools. 1750 million less in real terms in 1986.7. compared with 1930-81. • provided nursery schools for less than -quarter of the population s 3-1 year olds: • built up a backing of E2 billion in repairs. so thar many stare schools are in a chronic state of repair. • cut spending on school meals by 37 per cent since 1979/80, • oed 30,000 teaching jobs when over one and a quanter million pupils are in classes of cover 31. • scrapped tearher trade union negotiating: rights on pay and conditions; я пюус comparable to the banning of trade unions at GCHO, and then announced chat education standards are falling
Their clection manifesto presented a series of sweeping, radical reforms' so bold and audacious that they have been able to present themselves as the only credible alternative to the havoc which they Themselves: have created tremselves — through Tate-capping and elempts to
TEACHERS
Kenneth Baker, education minister responsible for Tory plans shackle the corriculum to the chunging needs of Tharcher's coonomic policies:
It is important that socialists acguaint themselves with the precise implications of "Tory educational "reform", In order to start creating an alternative cducation strategy that is linked to answering the needs and aspirations of the working class, in all its diversity
So what de the Fories intend to do?
The will establish a national core carriculum
What will that mean?
The right of the Tories to stipulate what will be taught, how it will be caughr and how T. 11 and 14 year olds will be 'resred" In practice to try to scrap the right of local authorities to determine their policies for schools, one only has to look at the number of times that Brent and Haringey councils came up as an election issuc to realise that both names arc symbolic symbolic of the Tories" hatred of progressive cducation With five years head teachery and school going Bother will br given connal over their schond budgete. What coilt this mean? The Tory manifesto puts it clearly, 'they know best the needs of their school!, In other words, the ducational polices of local councils will become meaningless. Headsare Lo be given the task of deciding whether to mend a leaking roof or to buy new books, In reality this is another means of eradicaring the effectiveness of Labour authorities and teacher trade unions, in determining the practices and provisions in local schools. The Tories will increar Darenial choice: What chuice!
The right to choose to send your child to a "populur school. The Tory manifeste states: popular schonis which have carned parental support by offering good education will then be able to expand beyond present pupil numbers. Apparently "These steps will compel schools to respond to the views of parents Parents, especially middle class parcors, are to be enlisted into Thatcher's dinist project — to check teacher malitancy and curh progressive ideas and practices, The will courage state ichovis to opt out Of that? Out of local education authority (LEA) contml Part of their idcological attack on
In the Tories' third term, education
is set to become a hotly-contested battleground.
plans for schools
state education is to make the very thought of sending your child to a state school, in and of inscif, undesirable.
Hore will school upt out?
The manifesto states that 'if, in a particular school, parents and governing bodies wish to become independent of the LEA, they will be given the choice to do so. This will apparently be done through a parental ballot. Ifover 51 per cent of the votes call for opting out, then opting out will be granted.
The lact that in practice it will take up to five years for a school to opt out, and that parents will have come and gone from a particular school, means nothing to the Tories. A democratic vote by ono set of parents can have lasting effects! Such "non-IFA" schools will become 'independent charitable trusts' and will roceive a grant from the department of cducation. How much and what the grant will pay for are, again, not explained.
The reality will that many 'independent" charitable schools, private in all but name, will have to search clsewliere.co. find money to pay for the types of services that state schools provided as of right: for instance school's psychological services, che additional teachers who work in many local schools serving the needs of students with particular learning difficulties, borough music teachers — who move around schools giving individual lessons to those learning a musical instrument, funding for educational trips, and so on. The implication is obvious: the government do not intend ro pay for a fully resourced schooling service.
Opposing these polices will be a mammuth task, both in the Labour Party and the unions. It is the most daring attack yet launched by any government on post-war education services. Apart from continuing the struggle inside the NUT, both to defend state schooling and fight for our rights to negotiate, we will need to take the debate about education into the Labour Party in a way not done before. It is a matter of the highest prority that we open a discussion about what socialists tean by an education for the working class. The conference planned by the Socialist Teachers Alliance ain 7-8 November will be an opportunity to develop an alternative colucation strategy — capable of meeting the Tory onslaught. Put that date in your diaries now!