Iain Dalton, Yorkshire Socialist Party
National Education Union (NEU) members took to the picket lines for a second time on 23 May at St George’s Primary School in York, as part of a dispute over the running of the school by the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (NPCAT).
The vibrant picket line was not just attended by school workers, but also numerous parents and children.
The school’s headteacher, Dee Patton-Statham, was also on the picket line. She said: “The decision to take strike action is never made lightly. The action reflects broader challenges that are impacting staff, school resources and the support we can offer our children… We work hard to help our children grow into confident, compassionate leaders of the future. That means showing them that using your voice to bring about change is not only a right – but a responsibility.”
A key issue is the top-slicing of funding by NPCAT, which the NEU estimates could be as much as 25% of the school budget! This contributes to the £300,000 salary of the Trust CEO, and facilities such as AstroTurf football pitches which are over an hour away from York.
The strikers demand that decision-making over spending is brought back to the school and local communities.
There are four other schools in York which are also part of NPCAT, where NEU members are organising, one of which, All Saints secondary, has also taken strike action.
The Socialist Party campaigns for all schools be to brought back into democratic local authority control. Many NEU branches are demanding that Labour’s education bill is amended, or new legislation urgently brought forward, to allow academies to return to local authority control.
