GIll Lee, officer personal capacity education; THE NUT's Broad Left (rightwing) leadership once again shortage: proved at annual conference in Cardiff that it is incapable of defending teachers and education against attack. shortages, and the progressive undermining of comprehensive education formed the background to this year's Conference, as did the sell-out over performance related pay (PRP).
the losers. the instruction of last year's Conference and refused to The tasks of the Left were clear: to map out a strategy Rick Hatcher Daily Mail headline called it the "Death of the Comprehensive School". That was how it summed up the pronosal in the government's Green Paper on education to turn nearly half of all sec.
ondary schools into "specialist schools"
anss inoys will create a school system in three ways.
• First, these schools will racial get extra money - £100,000 plus E123 per pupil per year.
•Secondly, they seen as 'better' by many parents, and this becomes a self.
fulfilling prophecy.
• Thirdly, they will be able gets, to select up to 10% of their intake.
10% not enough to really change the character of school. How long will it be before some specialist that the ceiling is raised to whole class cach year?
Specialist schools are not the only equality issue in the Green Paper. There is a real contradiction at its heart.
are On the one hand it contains much more explicit aments are delo which could Conference Ceneral • defend comprehensive Secretary Doug McAvay • increase salaries and so "professional unity" with • hold the line on opposistressed that unity could testing and league tables; and begin to rebuild opposi- compromise. ment and PRP. On most of these issue the left was defeated. sional development for pupils and all those with an teachers. receiving a broad, balanced and critical education are The only exception was on the issue of performance claim to be so". management, where Conference agreed to call commitments to reducing inequalities than previous diversity of schools. New Labour education policy documents. application On the other hand, the TORSTES tackle inequality are far too weak, and in any case many and inspections.
of the Green Paper's other proposals will tend to reinforce, not reduce inequality.
On gender issues the Green port, actually Paner has almost nothing to say. Current debates on masculinity go unmentioned. On level the Green Paper says It secondary level solution said to lie 111 combination or closure. Bicracy and the 'EMAG' policy for reaching pupils whose first language is not English, with vague remarks about working more closely with Black parents and communities.
Social class inequality, in contrast, attracts a battery of likely measures. In the carly years, the expansion of nursery and opportunity a extended DroVISIOn 19 welcome, but far too limited.
level, there three Labour's approach to social In his closing speech to and McAvoy will not carry out Conference's decision to ballot for a boycott of perforsummed up his view of the mance management.
"Professional unity had te emphasised the need for been the mantra for al those were opposed to a perspective of struggle. The commitment of the only be achieved through leaderships of the NASUWT and ATL to a joint proposal He talked about the union to the goverment about talks on excessive workload erer of high quality profes- and pay was continually used to stop debate on strike action for higher He stressed that teachers salaries and to defeat resolutions calling for action on good performance management and that "We are not The left were unsuccessful free arents and must not in arguing that action was the best motivator of unity In other words, the union and that tying ourselves to must subordinate itsell to the coat-tails of the ATL what govemment decides ... meant no action at all.
• First, the emphasis on What is entirely absent from • Secondly, the continuing Green Paper notion that Labour's established agenda for school key policies improvement through lead- tend to work against ership, monitoring, targets even this equality agenda.
• Thirdly, a whole set of • The structure of initiatives aimed at provid- the school system 2 ing additional targeted sup- quasi-market & zonal pro- (tests, league tables, grammes (Education Action parental preference, Zones, Excellence in Cities, school selection, per capita funding ete)
funding for 500 low attaining reinforces inequality:
secondary schools (£32 mil- Diversity lion, which is approximately schools: This rein.
£64,000 per school); 'part- forces inequality. The grammar specialist schools proschools and neighbouring posal will create a two-tier comprehensive schools; City system.
Academics; and Fresh Start schools: Ability • Differentiation within Inequalities might reinforces inequality, as will lessen under abour -indeed, after 18 years segregation at 14. of right-wing Tory gov- • The curriculum: Is itself a powerful surprising if they didn't. differentiation, are they regarded Nor ciently to make even the lim- notion of tackling race, gensted notion of cquality der and class in the curricureality! In lum in an emancipatory perother words, to qualitatively spective.
alter the life-experiences and • life-chances of those whose interests are served least of the school system? workload prevents the cre- managerialism and increased Having sufficient staff is a vital factor in quality education The Broad Left had carried out a bold move in calling off the very limited 'cover to contract' action before Conference even began, and successfully defeated attempts to restart the action. This opens up the danger that the unions will now be seen to be legitimating management's demands that teachers work beyond contract to cover up for teacher In arguing that such a massive crisis in education CAVE UY al "Inquiry into workload and pay, the Broad Left pointed Those in the Scottish teachers' union, the EIS, who opposed the McCrone is any might limited of ativity and innovation by teachers which is vital to tackle inequality. • Home and grouping Could the reliance on the academic-vocational reinforce patterns privilege? ( • Increasing role of the mechanism but private sector: What are the implications for equality?
is there any neutral Zones: Education Effectiveness • Excellence in Cities: Gifted and talented' reinThe management of forces inequality. There is a contradiction at Authoritarian the heart of the Green Paper between its concero deal minted out at an NUT fringe meeting that it Involved a 20% increase in workload in exchange for the increase in pay. This would not solve it.
The defeats at this year's Conference only emphasise the need for unity of the left, currently divided between Alliance, the Campaign for a Democratic and Fighting Union, and the SWP which left the STA some years ago. (see page 8)
Some initial steps were taken at Conference and these need to be built on it order that the Left can better defend itself, teachers and comprehensive educa tion against the attacks to come.
by inclusion and (an of)
albeit hmica equality of opportunity and the three dominant imperatives of Labour education policy.
It is concern for the production of human capital for a hierarchical labour market;
the refusal to challenge middie class privilege in educaelectoral reasons:
and the desire not to spend too much money that deter.
government's agenda.
All these shred targess are incompatible with a genuine egalitamas age=da
Outlook