Ferguson challenges Labour on education spin

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> SNP Council Group Leader on Dumfries & Galloway Council Andy Ferguson today (Monday) challenged the Council’s Labour Administration to substantiate comments made by the Chair of Education, Jeff Leaver, over funding for teacher numbers – terming the comments “the worst sort of political spin”.
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> Cllr Ferguson said:
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> “Almost everything in Cllr Leaver’s statement on teacher numbers is wrong and he appears to be deliberately engaging in the worst sort of political spin, using the education of our children as a political pawn.
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> “It seems to have escaped him that this Administration, propped up by their Tory cronies, cut teacher numbers and thought they’d get the extra money anyway. Now they’re casting about to find any lame excuse for their own failings.
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> “Why on earth would this Administration expect to get a £303,000 bonus from the Scottish Government when that money was specifically to maintain teacher numbers? The fact is they cut numbers by 16 teachers and clearly expected to get the money anyway. I think most people will recognise that if you make a deal you ought to stick to it – and Labour haven’t kept their side of the bargain. After all it isn’t rocket science; any worker on performance-related pay knows that if you don’t meet your target you don’t get the bonus.
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> “I can’t understand why the Chairman of Education should be claiming the Scottish Government denied the region 19 more probationer teachers when he should have known those decisions are made by the General Teaching Council. And actually we received 10 more probationers this year than we did last year!
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> “Cllr Leaver also seems to have invented what he calls a ‘moratorium on teacher recruitment’. I challenge Cllr Leaver to bring forward the evidence that there is any such thing. Why would the Scottish Government impose a moratorium on teacher recruitment when they want to protect teacher numbers?
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> “D&G Council does not have the best pupil-teacher ratio in Scotland, as Cllr. Leaver suggests. Four other Councils, all in rural areas, are doing better than us. What the Scottish Government has done is provide extra funding for the “Grow your own” initiative to tackle problems with teacher recruitment in Dumfries & Galloway, which I hope will continue, or even be enhanced. That’s a fact which, funnily enough, Cllr Leaver doesn’t mention.”
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