Teachers union questions neoliberal education model

A paper put out by the Post Primary Teachers Association, the main secondary teachers union, claims that the “Tomorrows School's” education reforms brought in by the forth Labour government in 1989 have not led to better results for students. Teachers are likely to be voting for an independent review of Tomorrows Schools at the union's conference later this month. The paper states that “Interestingly the absence of solid evidence of achievement gains has not led to a reexamination of the ideology underpinning the reforms.” Introduced at the same time as a number of right-wing economic reforms, Tomorrows Schools brought to schooling a market-style system where quality education would result from the choices of “consumers”, who would send their children elsewhere if dissatisfied, and by the review and audit agency that monitors school performance.

The advocates of the reforms argued they would increase parental involvement in schools which would enhance democratic participation, this has proven to be false however as working class parents are less able, or less willing, to participate in school boards of trustees. The paper notes that

There is no doubt that the model works best for schools that serve wealthy, relatively homogeneous communities, or for schools that are able to get their issues into the media and by that route receive favoured treatment. In all cases, though, success for a few schools comes at a cost to a majority of schools that do not have those particular advantages and could do far better in a system that was more consciously supportive of their needs.

The PPTA also takes issue with the idea that schools would better serve their communities when freed from bureaucratic constraints, and argues that “rather than encourage individuality, the reforms have produced a ridged consumer driven conservatism.”