FLAGSHIP moves to bypass councils and give more funding direct to Scottish headteachers have come under fire from council leaders.
A report on the Scottish Government plan by council umbrella body Cosla described the moves as a "radical departure" which would "undermine" the role of local authorities and increase bureaucracy.
The accusation came after John Swinney, the Education Secretary, announced moves to give legal responsibilities for raising standards to schools as part of a new delivery plan for education.
Read more: Council backlash begins over plans to give more power to Scottish schools
The proposals will also see millions of pounds of funding given directly to headteachers as well as the setting up of education regions to “decentralise management”.
Cosla have organised a meeting of key council officials to discuss the proposals and its confidential report on the issue, passed to The Herald, states: "The new Cabinet Secretary has produced a delivery plan for Scottish education which is a radical departure from the status quo.
"Elements of the delivery plan signal an undermining of the existing role of local government in its responsibility for providing education for children and young people.
"The delivery plan includes moving aspects of devolved decision making and funding from local government to schools and clusters and includes other aspects of governance moving from local authorities to the Cabinet Secretary."
The Cosla report says the Association of Directors of Education Scotland, which represents council education officials, believes there is no need for new legislation because current laws already allow for headteachers to be considered "responsible" for the delivery of education.
Read more: Council backlash begins over plans to give more power to Scottish schools
On the issue of giving more money direct to headteachers, the Cosla report states: "Headteachers’ unions have made clear statements... that they wish to retain their focus as leaders of education... and not become account managers.
"As there is a growing recruitment crisis for headteacher and deputy posts, a further burden on those professionals will merely exacerbate this situation. In some respects, this step could be regarded as adding to bureaucracy, rather than improving education outcomes for children and young people."
And on educational regions the report adds: "There is no clear idea of what is meant by the term... and no proposals are emerging from Scottish Government which may leave an opportunity to influence this.
"There are natural partnerships growing between local authorities which cross traditional boundaries and Cosla officers suggest that these natural partnerships should be welcomed by Scottish Government and a local approach adopted across the country."
Mr Swinney has said previously the intention of the changes is to drive improvements by allowing more decisions to be made by schools who are "best placed" to know what their communities need.
Read more: Council backlash begins over plans to give more power to Scottish schools
He has also questioned whether all local authorities have the capacity or quality of leadership to effectively deliver education and called for greater collaboration.
Last month he said: “Does each authority have the capacity and capability to deliver the type of educational policy that we require in our schools?
“Is there enough quality of leadership to handle these issues? Does that exist universally across all the authorities? These are some questions we have got to explore to determine if we have all the arrangements necessary in place."
The report will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of Cosla's Education Executive Group tomorrow(thurs) alongside professional associations and trade unions who have similar concerns over the term impact of Scottish Government commitments.
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