Schools call for more funding

OVER 1,000 councillors in England have written to the education secretary urging the government to give schools billions of pounds in extra funding.

The letter to Damian Hinds calls for an end to spending cuts and for adequate funding for special needs.

A report last year by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said total spending per pupil in England had fallen by 8% in real terms between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

The signing of the letter has been organised by the National Education Union’s councillor network, which is supported by the fairer funding campaign group, f40.

The letter, which is to be handed into the Department for Education (DfE) headquarters in Westminster later, says: “Our excellent state-funded schools have lost out in billions of pounds in funding since 2015. The funding crisis has become so overwhelming that according to the Education Policy Institute, almost a third of all council-run secondary schools are now in deficit…”

“Many schools are now desperately overwhelmed as more and more students are competing for fewer and fewer resources.

“Compounded by biting cuts to local council services, in addition to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, the current settlement is not tenable.”