Tomorrow, July 19th, at noon, I will be part of a contingent of Queens Park Community School (QPCS) parents and students joining a lobby organised by teachers’ unions against the government’s cuts to the Building Schools for the Future budget,
QPCS itself has lost 17 million pounds but a lot of Brent schools are far worse off than us in terms of the state of their buildings.
As you will probably know, the new government has scrapped most BSF projects and will be using a significant tranche of the money to fund its new Academy ‘outstanding schools’ programme and parent led Free Schools. Hence the inspired slogan from one of our parents for some of our placards tomorrow: Building Schools for the Favoured.
The concern of many of us is that a clear two tier system will emerge at local level in state education with under funded local schools struggling to attract parents versus an elite, well resourced group of academies and parent run
schools, cut off from local communities and largely educating better off families.
If you think this is wrong and want to add your voice to the protests, please join the lobby in Westminster and write to your local MP.
I actually think it’s a long overdue reminder of why not to vote Conservative. Bit late for most of the idiots who lap up the racist xenophobic hateful bile in some of the tabloids, in between having one off the wrist over page three before supporting our boys getting their nuts blown off in some oil rich but educationally poor part of the world. But I digress…
Despite BLiar’s mantra of education, education, education, he continued to build these highly spun centres often on PFI deals that we’ll be further in debt for than if we just gave away fivers on street corners to people who look like they need some chips and a new pair of shoes.
There’s a sort of honesty about the Tories too – we’re going to really divide things up and then screw the lowest common denominator – at least I think that’s what I read in their manifesto (I was wiping my arse with it at the time – reduce, reuse, recycle is a fundamental part of my green politics).
I shall indeed write an angry letter to my MP, and now she’s in opposition, she might argue more vociferously about the incumbents Tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber as I’ve recently heard them called – at least I never voted for either of them, but then again, nor did the majority of the UK population.
I am of course being extremely flippant here on what is a really serious and important issue for anyone who cares about the sort of society the next few generations will create. It’s a painful reminder that individuals can only do so much and without collective action like yesterday’s lobby we really are going to be on a hiding to nothing. My cynicism and despair (although valid in this climate I fear) is somewhat diminished when I see others getting off their backsides and protesting wherever they can be heard.
Having been threatened with the sack via our boss’ blog this month at the same time when the chair of the London Fire Brigade is exposed as the second highest earning councillor in the UK (at £117,000)b it looks like business as usual is the new mantra for the ConDemAll posse (I’ve only just thought of this – surely someone else has already used this abbreviation for the double standards alliance – I think it might stick!).
Off to work now, whilst I still have work to go to. X