Campaigning to make a difference to education in 2018

Teachers and support staff spend their lives trying to make a difference for young people. London schools, in particular, have a proven record of educational success. However, in 2018, that success is under threat. 

Funding cuts, staff shortages, excessive workload & divisive education policies remain an ever growing threat.Organising together through the National Education Union, we can make a difference by opposing those threats. Here’s how:

Funding Cuts
During last year’s General Election, NUT campaigning helped to make school cuts a key issue in the campaign. Justine Greening was forced to announce that she had found additional funding for schools. However, while a small amount of redirected education funding was won for schools, the reality is that the cuts are still biting hard.

The schoolcuts.org.uk website has been updated with the latest data. It confirms that 91% of schools are still facing real term budget cuts.

£2.8 billion has already been cut from schools since 2015.
NEU research shows that, on average, London secondary schools have each cut five members of staff in the last two years alone! We must stop cuts driving class sizes and teacher workload even higher, so we can defend education.

In London, we have another opportunity to make school cuts a key election issue in this May’s council elections. So start making plans now!

Pay Inequality
The NEU has joined forces with headteacher unions, the NAHT and ASCL, to submit an claim for a fully funded pay increase of 5% for teachers. A petition in support of this claim has been launched at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/202526. Sign and share it with your colleagues.

Workload
If there's one issue that needs addressing to stop teachers being forced out of the profession, it has to be workload. Unfortunately, while a minority of schools are starting to recognise that workload has to be cut, far too many are still expecting their staff to work long hours without any “proper regard for their well-being”(but the law says that they have to!) 

In the London Region, we are campaigning for schools and employers to sign-up to a ‘London Workload Charter’ that shows they are genuinely acting to cut staff workload. A draft of the Charter will be under discussion at the ‘London Weekend’ being held in Eastbourne at the end of January.

Primary Assessment
The high stakes accountability regime bearing down on schools in England is one of the root causes of excessive workload. The NEU is working with the ‘More than a Score’ campaign to oppose the damage being caused by the Government testing regime. Have a look on: www.morethanascore.co.uk
 
Academisation
Our campaigning helped to force Justine Greening back from her plan to force all schools to become academies. Yet, despite continuing financial scandals and clear evidence showing that academisation does not lead to improved educational attainment, some Governors and Local Authorities in London still seem set on pursuing academisation.

After successful campaigns in Ealing last year, NEU members in Brent and Newham are taking action to stop transfer of their employment to an academy trust. We have produced a fact-sheet setting out exactly why academy conversion should be opposed. Download it from https://goo.gl/jHtqAA

… and, together, we can win!
You may have read in the latest ‘Teacher’ magazine, that GMB and NEU members are celebrating victory at Charlton Park Academy in Greenwich. Six days of joint union strikes led to talks at ACAS that secured an agreement that nationally negotiated Burgundy and Green Book rights would apply for all staff. 

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You can download this article - together with other important dates and announcements - as part of the January 2018 London Region NEU (NUT Section) newsletter via: https://goo.gl/42W3tB