Town hall ‘ready to fight government’ on Islington school ‘cuts’

Islington’s education leader has promised that the council is ready to take action against government cuts to schools.

Islington NUT has predicted a 10 per cent funding cut to our schools in the next four years. The union claims it will equate to £600 per pupil, and the equivalent of 335 teachers lost.

Ernestas Jegorovas, a Green Party candidate in July’s Barnsbury by-election, quizzed Cllr Joe Caluori about the cuts in the public speaking segment of last night’s full council meeting.

Cllr Caluori said: “We are hugely worried about this. We don’t know what the finer information is yet, so we don’t know the exact impact. But we will be campaigning against this with other London boroughs.

“Pouring money out of London towards Tory shires is a regular exercise of this government. It’s very clear many of these ministers don’t understand state education.”

Meanwhile, a petition urging the government to build affordable homes for teachers and “key workers” has reached 1,000 signatures, last night’s meeting heard.

As reported in the Gazette, the government paid £33.5million for Ladbroke House in Highbury with a view to building another school. It has been met with outcry, as the site is located in between Highbury Fields and Highbury Grove Schools.

Cllr Caluori passed a motion for the town hall to further pressure the government to consider building affordable homes. He said: “A lack of accommodation is a key factor in the high turnover of teachers in our secondary schools.

“The petition reaching 1,000 signatures shows the depth of feeling about this issue. We will campaign for a future of that site that will benefit local teachers, and local people.”