Support staff undermined

By Rob Kelsall, GMB union negotiator in Birmingham On 15 January 2003, education secretary Charles Clarke, along with the majority of unions representing teachers and school support staff, signed a national agreement, Time for Standards, in a blaze of publicity. The agreement has significant implications for teachers and support staff, and is extremely controversial, particularly in relation to staff alleviating the workload of teachers and delivering lessons to whole classes to guarantee planning, preparation and assessment time for teachers.