PARENTS have called for councils to protect frontline education services from cuts by looking at other ways to save money.
Iain Ellis, chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said local authorities could save money by sharing services such as payroll.
One of the most controversial suggestions as local authorities prepare to set their budgets has been cutting the school week with a number of local authorities backing off the idea after protests.
Mr Ellis said: "Rather than make the most disadvantaged children bear the brunt of budget cuts, might it not make more sense for local authorities to look at where they could save money by sharing services?
"Currently, there are 32 different education departments doing things in 32 different ways, which is costly and inefficient. One means of cost saving could be for teacher payrolls to be either delivered at the national level or shared between several authorities.
"It's time to consider doing things differently so that the rights and needs of all our children are protected, rather than being eroded through a procession of cuts year after year."
Mr Ellis has already questioned the need for education departments in evidence to MSPs. He said: "We seem to have rationalised everything else throughout the country-we now have Police Scotland, for example-so I suggest that we ask whether we can do away with having 32 local authority education departments. Do we take education off their hands completely? That is my radical suggestion."
Larry Flanagan, General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union said it believes that is fundamentally important that local authorities are directly involved in the delivery of education services.
He said: "It is open to a review of how that is best facilitated.
"As local authorities increasingly look at shared services, for example, in order to provide public services more economically, combining some education authorities is one model that warrants consideration."
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, had echoed the concerns before MSPs in November.
She said there was an "incredible amount of duplication" and questioned its efficiency.
Councillor Kevin Keenan finance Spokesman of Cosla, the councils' umbrella body said: "Scotland's councils should be applauded by communities for the job they have done in protecting them" in the face of extreme budgetary pressures.
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