South London teachers fight school closures

July 16, 2024 –
From Socialist Worker (UK)

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Teachers at Hastings Academy fight for funding and against school closures (Photo: twitter/@NEULondon)

Should schools be closed down due to falling numbers of pupils?

The cost of living crisis, the dire housing crisis and falling birth rates have contributed to lower numbers of students enrolling in primary and secondary schools in London. Almost 15 percent of school places in the city are unfilled as families move to more affordable areas.

Councils are responding by issuing closures and merging schools, particularly in London, following over a decade of devastating cuts to both education and council funding.

But these closures are a political choice. Instead of councils closing schools, they could shift to smaller class sizes to improve education and save jobs.

It’s an opportunity to boost spending per pupil and teachers could dedicate more attention to each child.

It would prevent the job losses of all those who work in and depend on schools. Jess, a teacher in Lambeth, south London, explained, “In Lambeth especially, there’s been huge gentrification. No one can buy a home or afford to live in the area.”

She argued, “We oppose all closures, so we are fighting to stop them and make sure people don’t lose their jobs. Falling numbers are an opportunity to reduce class sizes and improve education.” NEU education union members are “balloting over no compulsory redundancies”. “We want at least a borough wide compulsory redeployment policy. The first day of action will be 18 July.

“Councils should have an adequate level of funding so they don’t look to close schools.” Some are currently fighting back at three schools in Lambeth. School workers are set to strike on Thursday this week against the council’s plans to close two schools and merge six more.

Councils also don’t have control over academy admissions, so some struggle to ensure an even distribution of pupils. For example, the already oversubscribed Kingsdale Foundation academy in Southwark, London, is planning on boosting its admissions by 42 percent. And since 2015, average headcounts at primary academies have grown by nearly 10 percent.

Large academies are expanding at the expense of neighbourhood schools, meaning it’s becoming “survival-of-the-biggest”.

A critical issue is how funding is allocated. Councils get funding based on their number of pupils, not their capacity, so unfilled places can create financial strain.

Hackney council in east London plans on closing two schools and merging four others. Dave, a teacher in Hackney, spoke about the structural problems caused by allocating funding per student.

“The ideal financial ratio is 30 kids to one teacher in a class—it’s not the ideal teaching ratio,” he said.

“If that drops to a class size of 20, it means the government provides two thirds of previous funding.”

Schools “then struggle to balance their budgets” as fixed costs like teachers and heating buildings remain.

“A school should be financially viable at 20 children per class. But over the last 14 years, the Tories have made a political choice that schools should maximise economic value.”

Dave argued, “Many of these schools would survive with adequate funding. But we shouldn’t mask the problems that are behind falling school numbers.

“Soaring housing and rent prices, gentrification, bedroom tax, no investment in new social housing.

“Hackney council has sold off council housing to build expensive new developments that get young professionals in.

“This is forcing families out of inner city boroughs.”

Jess said, “This is about the system making London a place where working class people can’t live. We can’t accept that. We need to stand up for schools, jobs and communities—then the ruling class can’t get away with it.”

Source: Socialistworker.co.uk