Save our Special Schools

LEICESTER CITY Council plans to close six special
schools, despite the overwhelming opposition of most parents and teachers in
the city. A group called Save Our Special Schools is lobbying council
meetings, petitioning councillors and rallying outside the town hall on 20
May to try to stop the council’s plans going ahead.

Andrew Walton, Leicester Socialist Party and NUT

Using the Blairite argument of "inclusion",
councillors want to find places for most of the city’s special needs pupils
in units alongside mainstream schools. However, if the council carry out
their programme, it will lead to bullying, disrupt children’s education, and
mean yet more work for hard-pressed teachers.

Children with behavioural difficulties and those on the
autistic spectrum need small class sizes, yet they will be sent to much
larger schools than those they attend. There would be no special needs
provision in the city for children under the age of seven.

The Socialist Party will campaign alongside the
protesters. We demand a democratic voice for teachers and parents. Unlike
the major parties, we are prepared to take on board local people’s opinions.

Labour group leader Ross Wilmott has criticised the
Liberal/Tory controlled council’s plans, yet Labour did exactly the same
-making cuts, merging schools and proposing a privatised "City
Academy" school – when they were in charge.

It is time to give local people their voices back. We
need to build a real alternative, a socialist party answerable to local
concerns, rather than parties imposing decisions against the wishes of the
electorate, and pandering to big business.