Richard Hatcher
MPs voted against Blair's Education Bill, reflecting the widespread opposition outside Parliament, but it passed its third reading thanks to Tory support.
What is the balance-sheet of the campaign? It won some concessions, but with a catch. performing ties are to be Local authorities (except lowallowed to open community schools, but provided the secretary of state approves.
And the new Admissions Code, yet to be published, will be compulsory rather than just advisory, but it seems likely that schools which want to select will find ways round it, just as they do at present.
It on the central iss
ust schools, there are significant concessions. Blair
n't need to make any,
it because he knew he co Belause Tor sup ta wed because lemands and strategy of it
abourist opponents
First, their focus was on ameliorating the Bill rather than outright opposition. The shaping the Buccampaign. name Reaching Consensus' launched in December by Compass, the Labour reform body, was either naïve or deliberately misleading for self-defeating tactical reasons.
Blair has no interest in UNISON Haggerston
WORK UNISON
UNISON reaching consensus with even the moderate Labour left - his natural allies lie to the right. He didn't need to make concessions on Trust schools because the so-called Labour rebels had already done so.
Their 'alternative white paper' did not oppose Trus the vetting of sponsors.
An attempt was made t regain this lost ground witl the amendment that parents must be balloted before any school can acquire status. response revealed once again in its cynical disregard for local democracy.
Alan Johnson, the new Education Secretary, argued that to make ballots compulsory would be "too dictatorial".
Norma Turner
In Greater Manchester we have set up a local group to support the national campaign to Keep Our NHS Public.
In this area we are facing
cuts of up to 1200 jobs in Bury,
Oldham, Rochdale and North Manchester hospitals. These
are all run by the "Pennine NHS Trust". Accident and emergency services may have to close.
Mental health services are in
crisis. Altrincham Hospital has
closed in Trafford. Maternity
and baby care is under threat in Bury and Salford. voting is undemocratic but a
decision taken by a handful of school governors is democratic.
Secondly, the illusion that a
deal could be done with Blair
meant that the campaign against the Bill relied on lobbying MPS rather than
mobilising mass popular
opposition.
A handful of public meetings were held but no effective action was proposed, and
activists on the left and in the
NUT were kept at arm's length.
Now the opposition is at a crossroads. What is their Plan B? For some, like Compass, the campaign was just a waystop in their project of Apparently parents voting is undemocratic, but a decision taken by a handful of school governors is democratic. reforming the Labour Party. For others the choice is schools, it simply called for whether to turn to more active and collective forms of campaigning. What will the Act mean in practice?
Some on the left see it as a The government's historic turning point, the end of comprehensive education and its replacement by a two-tier system with Trust schools at the top.
This is the worst-case scenario, but we have to make a concrete analysis of the facApparently parents tors which might pull and
These cuts and job losses will devastate health services locally. But the NHS debt of £800 million is less than 1% of its total budget. The Government could easily afford to cancel the debt and stop the job cuts. These are a direct result of their privatisation policies. They could easily spend money on health but they have chosen to spend it on war.
The campaign has called a Regional Demonstration - supported by Manchester Keep Our NHS Public, UNISON branches in Pennine Acute and Community and Mental Health, push schools in that direction.
Why should schools go for Trust status? Why should existing governing bodies vote to hand over power to an outside organisation, perhaps at their expense?
It doesn't gain them any more freedom over the curriculum, statting or premises, than the existing Foundation slalus, and Trust schools remain within local authorities (unlike Academies).
You also have to ask where all the sponsors will come from. Unlike sponsoring specialist schools, which simply requires companies to donate a few tens of thousands of pounds from their 'corporate social responsibility' budgets, sponsoring a Trust means actualy giving up te unne lo become a governor. and to take majority control you need half a dozen or more.
Market pressure, and the secretary of state, can impose Trusts. But we shouldn't be complacent. Some schools are certain to seek Trust status for religious motives, to gain sponsorship by a religious organisation. Others will seek Trust status for competitive advantage.
Faced with market pressures from neighbouring schools, perhaps a local Academy, and perhaps in a situation of falling pupil numbers, schools may seek a prestigious sponsor to boost or safeguard their image.
They may also choose to select admissions. At present most schools don't, including and Manchester Trades Council. This will take place on Saturday 24th June 2006 starting at Manchester Victoria Station at 11.30am. Leafleting and petitioning is taking place in the city centre and locally in order to build for this demonA Public Meeting has also been organised, within North Manchester Hospital [Wednesday 14th June at 7pm, Postgraduate Centre].
Petitions are available from the Campaign. Contact: [email protected] for further information. only 6% of the secondary schools allowed to select 10% of their intake by 'aptitude', but Trust status raises the competitive stakes and may tip the balance.
The other driver of Trust status is the secretary of state, aided by Ofsted, making 'failing schools an offer they can't refuse - become Trusts or close. These will mainly be in working class areas and will become vocational schools steered by employer sponsors. Stop the Trusts
It is impossible at this stage to predict how widespread the Trust movement will be, but the campaign against them continues. The key tasks now are three-fold:
mobilise for the national lobby of parliament on Tuesday June 27 called by the Public Services Not Private Profit' campaign, which is supported by 14 public sector unions, including the NUT. Steve Sinnott, NUT secretary, has called for a minimum of two parents, two teachers and two governors from every constituency. We need to take up that challenge.
• to build on the momentum of the campaign against the Bill to bring together a coalition of the left for a united fightback on the basis of alternative education policies.
• to organise local campaigns to nip in the bud any attempts by schools to go for Trust status
It doesn't matter whether the sponsor is a business, a chanily or a universily, lney have no right to run state schools - that's the right of those who work in them and the communities they serve.