The attached press release was issued on 26 March 2003 regarding the possibility of the Association balloting members in Argyll and Bute on industrial action over the authority's proposal for Secondary Schools

The SSTA will today hand to Peter Peacock, Minister of Education, a petition from secondary teachers in Scotland who are outraged at the downgrading of over 2/3rds of promoted posts in secondary schools in Scotland. The handing over of the petition, collected under the banner of “Mail the Minister” will take place at Victoria Quay at 1pm on Wednesday 9 July 2003. The petition comes as a consequence of the “Job Sizing” process imposed on schools under the McCrone Agreement.…

KIDS -V- CASHA RESPONSE TO RE-STRUCTURING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS What is the biggest challenge facing Scottish education today? Raising pupil attainment? Improving the quality of teaching? Introducing new, more appropriate courses and qualifications? Monitoring and improving pupil behaviour? Perhaps all of these? Given the much publicised “21st Century Agreement” between teachers, local authorities and the Scottish Executive, the general public might be forgiven for assuming that Scotland is well placed to take on these challenges. Unfortunately this is not the…

UNION WARNS ON FUTURE TEACHER SHORTAGES The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association today warned local authorities not to risk future teacher shortages by reducing management posts in schools. “Many local authorities, for reasons best known to themselves, have recently decided to reduce the number of management posts in secondary schools. This particularly affects Principal Teacher posts, although senior management posts are also being reduced. These reductions, now and in coming years, will not only reduce the effectiveness of school management in…