Tens of millions of parents will, from April next year, be able to see the precise level of budget cuts hitting the state schools their children attend, thanks to an information campaign by teaching unions.
The planned cuts to be imposed on every school in England and Wales – with figures detailing what this amounts to per pupil – will be available on a revamped version of the school cuts website, run by the unions and to be unveiled this week.
At present the site gives only retrospective data, for the financial year 2021-22. But in the hope of getting parents to pressurise their MPs on the issue before the next general election, the National Education Union (NEU), with support from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), will launch a new site showing data for the year ahead.
The unions say the calculations are based on official but not easily available government data on schools funding from the last comprehensive spending review. They have also factored in inflation predictions from the Bank of England and conservative estimates of increases in schools’ costs, such as a 2% rise in teachers’ pay and higher energy bills.
The unions say the data has been independently verified by leading economists, who conclude it is reliable. If funding changes that affect school budgets are made in Hunt’s financial statement on 17 November, the data will be immediately adjusted.
The unions’ latest initiative comes after Hunt made it clear that all departments, including education, would be expected to make cuts as part of the government’s debt reduction plan.
As recently reported by the Observer, nine out of 10 schools in England expect to have run out of money by the next school year as the enormous burden of increased energy and salary bills takes its toll.
Read the full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/nov/06/school-cuts-website-shows-parents-the-impact-of-tory-policy-on-their-children