"More School Cuts Will Break The Children Or Teachers—Or Both"
Lee-Anne King’s three sons attend Glasgow school
They all have significant support needs and, as a result, are among those most likely to be affected by teacher reductions across the city.
Lee-Anne, 41, volunteers at a primary school in Knightswood and serves as chair of the parent council.
She claims that the impact of teacher cuts is already obvious in the classroom at the school where her 10-year-old son JJ attends.
“Last week, our deputy headteacher ended up teaching a class all day because another teacher was off,” she told BBC Scotland News.
“These cuts mean there is no flexibility in the system so if one teacher goes off sick, your management team have to step in and teach.”That implies that all of the work they should be performing, such as assessments for special needs, consultations with parents, and support for children with special needs, is no longer possible.
“There is not enough support as it is and now they are cutting it to the bone and expecting schools to pull off miracles, but more cuts are going to break the children or the staff—or both.”
Austin, Lee-Anne’s youngest kid, is seven years old and attends a school for children with specific educational needs. Carter, 13, attends a standard secondary school.
According to Lee-Anne, one-on-one support groups for children with dyslexia and other special needs are already disappearing in the city, as are school trips for youngsters who would not otherwise have the opportunity.
Glasgow City Council has already lost 172 teaching personnel from its schools as part of a three-year plan to reduce 450 positions.
An equity impact assessment conducted by the council in June concludes that there will be “no significant impact” on children, but it also admitted that individuals in the poorest districts and those who have previously received targeted interventions may suffer.
According to the report, while Glasgow accounts for 10% of Scotland’s population, it is home to 35% of the country’s poorest youngsters.
“A reduction in teaching staff may have a detrimental impact on the poorest children and young people,” the report adds.
“Targeted intervention groups may be less likely to operate, which previously targeted those children performing below the expected level for their age.”
Teachers’ unions in Glasgow are currently balloting their members on strike action, with the results expected by the end of September.
However, Glasgow is not the only council making education cuts.
Edinburgh is consulting on £10 million in education budget changes, including staff reductions,
while Falkirk is considering cutting the school week. Under the ideas, students would work 22.5 hours per week instead of 25 and leave at lunchtime every Friday.
Edinburgh’s proposed cuts include imposing strict limits on how much schools can spend on printing, copying, and stationery; reducing the number of staff responsible for monitoring and improving educational quality; and slashing the budget for school transportation for students with special needs.
The Scottish government has warned Glasgow City Council and other local authorities that if they make cuts, they would lose their part of the £145.5 million pot of money set out specifically to preserve teacher numbers. Ministers have not verified whether or not this will happen.
Glasgow’s education cuts are predicted to save £7 million, but losing government money might cost the council an additional £16 million, so why do it?
According to Mike Corbett, a national Scottish official of the NASUWT union, the government and councils are playing chicken, and the children and teachers will lose.
“What puzzles us is why the cabinet secretary is not front and centre making that final decision and saying to Glasgow you cannot go ahead with this and if you do you will not receive this funding.”It’s almost like a game of chicken, where they’re just seeing how far the opposing side will go.
“However, teacher numbers have already been reduced.” It’s too late to sit around. We need that decision right now.”
He said other councils across the country were watching to see what happened, adding that students with special needs would be severely affected.
The EIS union underlined this, warning that the life chances of the most disadvantaged students would be “devasted—with a huge impact for years to come”.
According to Lee-Anne, the children and their families are most likely to miss out.
“They go on and on about their [Scottish government] policy of Getting It Right For Every Child but they are not getting it right for these kids and then they’re making further cuts,” she told me.
“It also has an influence on children who do not require additional support.
“Many children will leave school having never visited a museum or learnt to swim. There will be an increase in the number of students in school struggling with their mental health due to a lack of time for teachers to provide support, and some will just drop out.”
She believes the council feels it will not be held accountable and will not lose cash intended to sustain teacher numbers.
“They do it because have been allowed to do what they want for so long and no one challenges them,” she informed me.
Lee-Anne acknowledges that the council must balance its books, but she believes it should consider deferring or cancelling projects such as the £10 million renovation of George Square.
Glasgow City Council stated that it would do all possible to avoid any impact on schools but that it needed to consider all options as it sought to save £108 million over the next three years.
“We know that this will be a worrying time for everyone—for many years, education spending has been prioritised, relative to other services, in the budget process,” claimed a spokesperson.
“However, with the education budget now amounting to more than half of service expenditure directed by the council, it is significantly more challenging to protect education when substantial savings are needed.”
A representative for local government body Cosla acknowledged teachers’ “vital role” but stated that focusing solely on them would not result in improvement.
“Investment is required in wider support that may well sit outside the classroom and indeed the school.”For this reason, we are concerned about the Scottish government’s approach to the £145.5 million in teacher numbers, which does not allow for a holistic focus on improving outcomes.”
A representative for the Scottish government stated that the government is committed to protecting teacher numbers.
“We are offering local authorities over £145m for that purpose,” according to him.
“Talks are continuing with Cosla to reach an agreement which ensures that teacher numbers are protected, and we would strongly encourage any council planning teacher cuts to reconsider.”
