At the union’s annual conference in Harrogate today, the National Union of Teachers National Executive will propose an amendment ‘congratulating (area) divisions’, who have campaigned against City Academies.
The NUT National Executive amendment 24.2 states: ‘Conference deplores the pressure on local authorities to include Academies within their proposals for Building Schools for the Future funding.
‘Despite denials by the Government that authorities have only to consider and evaluate the Academy option, Conference regrets the fact that many authorities have been pressured to include Academies to ensure approval of their BSF proposals and to obtain much needed capital funding for these schools and others in the authority.
‘Conference congratulates local authorities which have resisted that pressure and divisions which have campaigned against Academies as an unwelcome aspect of the Government’s privatisation agenda, which also includes the sponsorship of trust schools.
‘Conference reaffirms its opposition to the Private Finance Initiative. . .’
Amendment 24.5 from Brent, where teachers and parents are occupying an academy site states:
‘Conference condemns utterly the blackmail attempts of the Government in withholding BSF and other central Government funding to endeavour to cajole Local Authorities into taking academies on a “There is no Alternative” basis.
‘Conference wholeheartedly supports the campaigners in Brent, and other areas, in their actions to defeat these attempts to privatise the management of state sector schools.’
‘I’m fully confident the NUT conference will give its support to the Brent occupation,’ Hank Roberts said yesterday as the annual conference in Harrogate began.
‘The occupation is entering its third week and getting support from more people and organisations,’ he continued.
‘We’re absolutely intending to carry it on until they withdraw this disgraceful proposal.
‘We appeal to teachers to continue to support the occupation and also say it is necessary to take direct action to defeat the privatisation of education in other areas.
‘That’s exactly what should be done.’