No answers to questions on Dundee City Council education budget cuts
Dundee City Council failed to answer a series of questions put to it about proposed £4 million cuts in its education budget.
- By Grant Smith, education reporter
- Published in the Courier : 15.12.10
- Published online : 15.12.10 @ 02.33pm
The Courier asked for details about several measures the SNP administration has suggested implementing as part of its attempt to lop £14.5 million from its spending next year.
Questions were emailed to the council press office before 10am on Tuesday but no response had been received by the evening.
We had asked for an explanation of a "city campus" concept, which apparently involves pupils from different schools studying together.
Questions were also asked about the likely effect of an early retirement scheme for teachers and a 25% reduction in the continuing professional development budget for teachers.
The administration has also proposed making significant savings by cutting management posts in the education department and by cutting senior teacher posts in schools.
We asked if the council could assure parents that there would still be a suitably experienced and robust management structure in schools.
The Courier will continue to seek answers to these questions.
Meanwhile a senior opposition councillor has suggested that Dundee schools may find it harder to attract candidates for head teacher posts as a result of proposed cuts.
Labour group education spokesman Laurie Bidwell said he was worried by changes, which it is understood will involve secondary schools losing 10 depute heads and primary schools losing 14.
'Substantial' savings
Mr Bidwell said, "It is sometimes difficult for us to get people coming forward who want to be head teachers in our schools.
"If we are reducing the number of senior management posts, that will focus more responsibility on a smaller number of shoulders. That could make is less easy to attract good quality applicants."
He intends to discuss with his Labour colleagues whether to call for the measures to be brought before the education committee for more detailed scrutiny.
Administration finance spokesman Willie Sawers said, "Education is one of the biggest departments so the savings figure is quite substantial.
"A lot of money will be saved through the rationalisation of structures — we are not taking teachers away but we are looking at how staff can be rationalised."
The suggested savings from the review of the promoted post structures in primary and secondary schools comes to almost £1.8 million for 2011/12, with another £500,000 coming from cuts in education department management.
Among the measures which have a direct impact on pupils is the city campus concept which would, in the administration's words, "share teaching expertise for senior pupils across the city."
Mr Bidwell said, "I think parents will want to know a lot more about that. It implies that children could be moving between schools, taking courses in schools other than their own.
"Will the council pay for or lay on transport for that? It would also require a lot of co-operation between schools to achieve it.
"Is it the pupils moving or is it the teachers moving?"
Liberal Democrat group leader Fraser Macpherson also said he had "grave concerns" about the city campus idea.
The city council is also facing having to implement a deal between finance minister John Swinney and council umbrella body COSLA that emerged as a result of the Scottish Government's spending review.
This includes a pay freeze for teachers for the next two years, a freeze on entry for the chartered teacher scheme which rewards skilled teachers for staying in the classroom, and an increase in class contact time for new teachers doing their probationary year.
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