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Action plan to oppose new faith schools
Ever survey undertaken in the country over the last few years has shown that the majority of the population consider that faith schools are devisive - especially after the stoning of Catholic primary school children by Protestant mobs in Northern Ireland, the religiously motivated attacks on New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Bali, etc, the religiously motivated wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia and the upsurge in both Muslim and Christian fundamentalism.
Many people are now aware that the government has given religious extremists the right to run new schools - where 100% of the costs are covered by the taxpayer. We have Christian Evangelical secondary schools now teaching that Darwin is nonsense, there is no such thing as evolution and the world was really created 6,047 years ago in seven days as described literally in Genesis!
More material and information
- Please click here to see comments about the successful experience in Leicester.
- Please click here for a sample letter to councillors concerning any new faith school/academy (MS Word format.)
- Please click here for a draft set of background notes for councillors (MS Word format.)
Using the democratic process
New schools cost huge amounts of public money - typically between £15 million and £30 million for a new secondary school.
This is tax payers' money, our money, and we have an obligation to insist that it is spent wisely in the best interests of everyone.
Our Action Plan assumes the normal democratic process using the methods available to us as citizens. We leave extremism to those extremist religious people (Evangelical evolution-denying Christians in the North East of England for example) who wish to use our money to impose their narrow-minded extremist views on children.
Key points
- No plan is perfect and we need to learn from experience - please send us your comments, suggestions and experiences. What works? What is a waste of time?
- Someone needs to be responsible for coordinating or doing each task - make sure a named person is associated with each task.
- Action plans are useless without someone to implement them.
- We can moan for ever - but sooner or later we must do something or things will never change.
- We need YOUR help now.
Action plan tasks
- Contact the Local Authority (LA) Director of Education, the Council Cabinet Member for Education and the councillors for the local area ("Education" may go under another name: "Children's Services" perhaps.)
Please click here for a sample letter.
The list of questions below can also be provided to local newspaper, radio and TV reporters so they have a starting point if they decide to investigate further.
Ask a specific set of questions:
- Would the LA have preferred an LA controlled community school if the money had been made available?
- Why was it not possible to have an LA controlled community school?
- Did the LA actively seek sponsors - religious and non-religious - for the new school? Did the LA publish this search?
- Does the LA feel that national government favours faith schools over LA community schools?
- Who originally proposed that the school be sponsored by a faith group?
- Is the only reason for supporting a faith school the fact that central government (tax payers') will pay 90% of the capital costs?
- What other reasons did the LA have for supporting a faith school rather than an LA mixed-intake community school?
- Has the LA considered the potentially divisive nature of faith schools? (See Notes for Councillors.)
- Has the LA carried out a survey in the area to see if the local population supports faith schools?
- Has the LA asked the opinions of parents of primary and secondary age pupils in the local area?
- Will the LA be conducting public meetings in the local area before giving the go-ahead for the new school?
- If the LA has not yet carried out a study of local opinion, would it be willing to fund and publish such as study by an independent third party - perhaps by a local University Education Department?
- Who is providing the 10% required from a sponsor for the capital costs of the new school?
- Has the LA investigated the background of the sponsor?
- What is the sponsor's motivation? Does he/she/it hold extreme or biased political or religious beliefs?
- Where will the sponsor's 10% be coming from - cash, borrowing, endowments, PFI, etc?
- Exactly what will the sponsor's 10% cover?
- Will the sponsor's 10% be paid up-front? If not, when will it be paid?
- What is the true cost paid by the sponsor by the time the school opens? (Allow for any tax breaks, charity status, etc.)
- Who will be providing the remaining 90% - local or national tax payers?
- Who will pay all the running costs (equipment, management, wages, etc) - sponsor, local tax payers or national tax payers?
- Who will "own" the assets of the school: land, buildings, contents etc?
- Will the sponsor be allowed to borrow against the assets of the school?
- Who will appoint the head teacher?
- Who will define the curriculum?
- Who will define the syllabus in relation to religion? Has the sponsor given an written undertaken that it will not be using tax payers' money for religious indoctrination?
- How will the LA be monitoring the school to ensure that it teaches about all belief systems, religious and non-religious, without instructing in one?
- Who will define entrance or selection criteria?
- Draw up an information pack for councillors - financial issues, need for genuine and full consultations, need for non-faith based religious education in a divided post 9/11 world etc.
Please click here for a draft set of notes for councillors (MS Word format.)
- Find as many secularists, humanists and supporters as possible in the area to help - preferably local tax payers.
- Start a letters campaign in the local newspapers - share out the letter writing.
- Draw up press releases for local newspapers.
- Find someone to speak on local radio - maybe ask the radio to set up a debate between church, councillors and us.
- Get a press release off to regional TV, try to get a reporter to visit: interviews with councillors, church, parents, us.
- Put in a formal request for proper consultation and public meetings to take place in the local area - parents of all primary school and parents of those in the current/previous secondary school.
- Get local radio/papers to do their own vox pops.
- Organise our own public meetings. Volunteers required to do this.
- Carry out our own street survey. Volunteers required to do this.
- Leaflet the local area. Volunteers required to do this.
Experience from Leicester
Members of the Leicester Secular Society work with others as part of an on-going campaign to prevent Faith Schools in Leicester and Leicestershire. They have been successful in preventing the latest C of E attempt. These are their comments:
A sustained briefing for councillors and speaking at council committee meetings was an important factor in Leicester, we did not stop the first academy but it did eventually alert councillors enough to stop the second one.
We recommend pressing for the consultation to include:
- offering a choice of faith or non-faith,
- disclosure of the admissions regime,
- disclosure of the employment policy and the make up of the governing body.
Employment policy
See www.natsoc.org.uk/downloads/equalopps/equaloppsguidancemodelpolicy.doc
Academies with religious character are empowered by Section 124A of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to give preference in the appointment, promotion or remuneration of teachers on the grounds of denominational religious opinion, attendance at denominational acts of worship or a willingness to teach denominational religious education. These are the same powers as for Voluntary Aided schools and include the same provision in respect of dismissal for "incompatible" conduct.
They may also seek to establish a Genuine Occupational Requirement under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 for appropriate non-teaching posts. The prohibition in this respect which applies to Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled Schools and to Foundation Schools does not apply to Academies.
The employment policy for Voluntary Aided schools with a religious character is pretty hair-raising. The board of governors is the employer:
See www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980031.htm
Section 60:
(1) This section applies to a foundation or Voluntary school which has a religious character.
...
(5) If the school is a Voluntary aided school
(a) preference may be given, in connection with the appointment, remuneration or promotion of teachers at the school, to persons -
(i) whose religious opinions are in accordance with the tenets of the religion or religious denomination specified in relation to the school under section 69(4), or
(ii) who attend religious worship in accordance with those tenets, or
(iii) who give, or are willing to give, religious education at the school in accordance with those tenets; and
(b) regard may be had, in connection with the termination of the employment of any teacher at the school, to any conduct on his part which is incompatible with the precepts, or with the upholding of the tenets, of the religion or religious denomination so specified.
(6) If the school is a Voluntary aided school, no person shall be disqualified by reason of his religious opinions, or of his attending or omitting to attend religious worship, from being employed for the purposes of the school otherwise than as a teacher.
[We believe that the Education Act 2006 now allows discrimination in the employment of support staff who had any kind of pastoral role - we will try to track that down - and see the final paragraph for the situation in academies.]
© 2007 UK Secularists
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