THOUSANDS of teachers have been urged to fight against red tape and budget cuts and tell their local education authority: 'Enough is enough.'

Dick Greenfield made the rallying cry as he began his year as president of the Lancashire Federation of the teachers union the NASUWT.

Mr Greenfield, a former federation secretary and national executive member, said he was fed up of increasing bureaucracy in local schools and the way they are expected to function as small businesses.

And he said Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire County Council should start listening to what teachers have to say.

"My message to teachers is if nobody will listen to you as the experts, the professionals, then be prepared to act to bring some sense back to the education service.

"The literacy initiative is dominating the life of primary teachers and next year the numeracy initiative will do the same and if the Government sticks to it's proposals for a totally bureaucratic appraisal system, schools that are already swamped will just go under." In his president's speech to more than 4,000 members of the federation, Mr Greenfield said: "A child's opportunities should not depend on the skills of teachers to put together business bids for which they are not trained and which takes them away from the main task of teaching.

"It is time to say enough is enough. Tasks which do not assist teaching will no longer be done and initiatives will only be followed if properly resourced."

Mr Greenfield criticised budget cuts and the local education authority's reaction to them. "Do they campaign against these cuts? No, they just say we are powerless and implement them.

"But the education committee over the years have been known as fighters for the rights of Lancashire children. My message is don't let central government bury you, fight, don't give it up."

Chairwoman of Lancashire's education and cultural services committee Hazel Harding, said: "As far as red tape goes, recent figures show we use very little money on these procedures, but if you want to do things properly they do have to be done.

"And as far as talking to teachers goes, we have them on the education committee and do have a consultative forum too, but we are here for the benefit of children and make any decisions with them in mind."

Mark Pattison, director of education and training at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "We hold regular meetings with teachers and unions which provide a forum for listending to views and opinions.

"As for the remarks about red tape, we do not accept the figures that came out in the league table last week and believe they are not reliable. We are in the top third of authorities nationally for the amount of money per pupil that has gone into schools."

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