Yesterday my son came home from school with the news that I've been fearing since the Council budget at the start of the year - our Labour council plans to take away a large part of his school's playing fields.
Plans to make money from selling off/developing several schools' playing fields were outlined in the papers sent out for the budget-setting meeting. But Labour councillors going in to vote for cuts obviously hadn't studied the 200+ pages of papers because several I challenged on this issue denied there were any plans to take away school playing fields. So either they were ignorant of the cuts they later voted for or they were being dishonest. I think councillors paid to put up their hands for £45 million of cuts (a figure that's risen substantially in the months since) have a duty to know what they're voting for!
Having safe areas in schools for our children to play and take part in sports contribute significantly to their health and well-being. The Council will not get away with this without a fight. I will be writing to the school governors offering my support as a parent, to their resistance to the Council's plans.
School governors in the affected schools, school students and their families and education trade unions need to link up with the local community to fight for the health, well-being and safety of our children and the local environment.
I'm standing for election in the Uplands by-election on Thursday as a TUSC Against Cuts candidate to offer an alternative to the cuts agenda which puts saving money above even our children's health and well-being.
Plans to make money from selling off/developing several schools' playing fields were outlined in the papers sent out for the budget-setting meeting. But Labour councillors going in to vote for cuts obviously hadn't studied the 200+ pages of papers because several I challenged on this issue denied there were any plans to take away school playing fields. So either they were ignorant of the cuts they later voted for or they were being dishonest. I think councillors paid to put up their hands for £45 million of cuts (a figure that's risen substantially in the months since) have a duty to know what they're voting for!
Having safe areas in schools for our children to play and take part in sports contribute significantly to their health and well-being. The Council will not get away with this without a fight. I will be writing to the school governors offering my support as a parent, to their resistance to the Council's plans.
School governors in the affected schools, school students and their families and education trade unions need to link up with the local community to fight for the health, well-being and safety of our children and the local environment.
I'm standing for election in the Uplands by-election on Thursday as a TUSC Against Cuts candidate to offer an alternative to the cuts agenda which puts saving money above even our children's health and well-being.
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