The EIS teaching union has protested that cutting teachers is making it difficult to enforce good disciplinary standards in their schools. A specific concern is that pupils who may be better suited to special schools are remaining in mainstream classes without the necessary support. The EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan told the BBC: "Reductions in staffing - including a decline in teacher numbers, deep cuts to specialist support staff, and the fall in the number of professional educational psychologists - are exacerbating the problems that many schools face in supporting pupils who have displayed challenging behaviour.”
