At a meeting on Friday, Scottish council leaders will decide whether to accept the Scottish government’s grant of £145.5 million to maintain teacher numbers - or reject it and seek a compromise.
One option to be considered is that local authorities’ body Cosla attempts to negotiate a new deal with the Scottish government that would see the £145.5 million for teachers made contingent upon maintaining the pupil-teacher ratio, as opposed to the total number of teachers.
This would allow councils to cut teacher numbers - as long as it was in line with falling school rolls.
In papers for the meeting of council leaders, seen by Tes Scotland, Cosla acknowledges that in order to strike such a deal it “may have to offer concessions”. It suggests that one such concession could be “to freeze learning hours at current levels” - something councils have refused to do in the past.
Teacher number focus
Currently, in Scotland, state schools must, by law, be open for 190 days a year, but the number of learning hours is not legally prescribed.
This means the time pupils spend in class varies across the country and has at times come under threat as councils seek to balance their budgets, leading to the Scottish government coming under pressure.
However, whether education secretary Jenny Gilruth would be open to a compromise over teacher numbers is questionable.
On Thursday at a general election hustings organised by the EIS teaching union, Ms Gilruth said her “absolute focus as education secretary” had been on “protecting this funding for teacher numbers”.
She added: “I’m very clear no local authority is going to receive that funding unless they agree to do so.”
Still, Ms Gilruth has also said she wants to reach an agreement with councils over the minimum number of hours children must spend in school and has threatened to legislate if a voluntary agreement cannot be reached.
Falkirk Council recently became the latest council to consider cuts. It is considering cutting the time secondary pupils spend in school by around two hours a week and in primary by 2.5 hours a week, as it attempts to plug a £62.5 million budget gap over the next five years.
However, the Cosla papers also question if a compromise over teacher numbers would be possible.
The papers say the message “from Scottish Government officials [is] that there is not an appetite from the Cabinet Secretary to consider an alternative approach.”
The papers then go on to highlight that there may not even be the time now for a different approach.
The papers say: “There are also concerns that we are now at a stage where there is not sufficient time to consider new approaches, with the school census taking place in September.”
Flexible spending needed for councils
Scottish councils are trying to resist government attempts to force them to commit to maintaining teacher numbers at - or slightly above - the levels recorded in last year’s teacher census.
They argue if they are forced to protect teacher numbers, even if school rolls are falling, they will be forced to make deeper cuts elsewhere.
They say that councils should have the flexibility to spend education funding as they see fit, based on their local context - especially at a time of decreasing budgets.
Glasgow City Council is looking to cut 450 teacher jobs over three years, saying it needs to find almost £108 million worth of savings.
However, Ms Gilruth argues that protecting teacher numbers is key to closing the attainment gap, supporting pupils with additional needs and addressing the behaviour challenges schools are facing.
After a fall in teacher numbers for the past two years running - when the government has promised to increase teacher numbers by 3,500 by 2026 - Ms Gilruth has tightened up the conditions for councils receiving government money for teachers.
The money has been ring-fenced and is now no longer part of the general revenue grant.
Councils concerned about ‘financial penalties’
Reassurance has been given that councils will not lose “the totality of the additional funding for a small reduction in teacher numbers” - but they must commit to maintaining teacher numbers in advance of receiving the grant.
In the meeting papers, Cosla says councils are concerned they are “opening themselves up to financial penalties and reputational damage by agreeing a target they are not confident they are in a position to meet”.
However, the papers also point out that “there is no precedent for the Scottish government withholding funding for teacher numbers if targets have not been met”.
Last year, at census time, 15 councils missed their targets but no local authority was penalised. At the time, Ms Gilruth said the fall was “extremely disappointing” but she did not think reducing council funding was in the best interests of pupils.
Still - as the Cosla papers highlight - there is no guarantee the government would give councils the same leeway this year.
The deadline that has been set for councils to sign up to the teacher numbers deal is Friday 12 July.
The papers say it is “not clear” what the Scottish government’s approach will be if councils do not sign the grant letter.
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