SCHOOLS’ BID TO SWAY ELECTION

Head teachers sent out letters attacking Tory policies during campaign

HEADMASTERS stand accused of trying to sway the general election by attacking Tory policies.

Families were sent a series of political messages – by letter and on social media – in the run-up to the national vote on June 8.

One warned of the ‘dreadful state’ of education funding under Theresa May. It was sent by heads from 3,000 schools across 14 areas. Parents elsewhere were urged to sign a petition set up by the Left-wing National Union of Teachers. And one school tweeted that parents should think again before voting Tory. Official guidance states that during ‘purdah’ – the period between an election being called and polling day – schools must not use public resources to give one party an advantage. Conservative MP Henry Smith said: ‘To be engaging in the party political fray using official letterheads and Twitter accounts is unacceptable.

‘It’s largely driven by the personal political opinions of some heads and teachers rather than the facts.

‘It is a source of considerable concern and would have had an influence among some voters. Parents tend to trust what schools are telling them.’

His seat – Crawley in West Sussex – covers St Wilfrid’s Catholic School, the secondary which sent out the

anti-Tory tweet. It posted on April 21: ‘What about education, mental health services, the NHS, social care, still voting Conservative?’

Mr Smith pointed out that under a funding shake-up Crawley schools would pick up an extra 8.4 per cent – or £5.7million. He added: ‘There would have been people who received the letters and took them as fact. Some of my colleagues weren’t re-elected. Similar campaign tactics in those seats may well have made a difference.’

The letter from 3,000 schools was sent on May 19. It urged families to raise the ‘current financial difficulties’ in schools with all prospective parliamentary candidates.

While it claimed that the schools signing the letter were not ‘involved in a politically biased or partisan way’, it was clearly critical of Tory funding policies.

Sent home in school book bags, it said: ‘School finances are in such a dreadful state that we believe that it is vital to urge you to raise it as a key issue prior to June 8.’

It went out to parents in Brighton, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, East Sussex, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Peterborough, Suffolk, Surrey, Thurrock, Wokingham and West Sussex.

Tory MPs losing their seats in and around these areas included Treasury minister Simon Kirby in Brighton Kemptown, Caroline Ansell in Eastbourne, James Berry in Kingston and Surbiton, and Oliver Colvile in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport.

The letter was co-ordinated by a group of head teachers who go by the campaign name, ‘Worth Less?’

Another letter from Margaret Roper Catholic Primary School in Purley, south London, on April 26 – five days after purdah began – accused the Government of being ‘disingenuous’ in saying funding was at an all-time high. It included a link to schoolcuts.org.uk, a website run by the NUT.

Another letter, sent out by Poulton-leSands Primary in Morecambe, Lancashire, on May 5, lists a number of cuts the school made to resources and support workers. It stated: ‘This is a very real issue and I am writing to make you aware of how it is affecting our school and YOUR children.’

Under local government guidance, council-run schools and their headmasters cannot use public resources to give any party or candidate an advantage. This includes school letterhead paper, Twitter accounts and general access to parents.

Councils give purdah guidance to schools, but only extremely serious breaches would result in disciplinary action. The Worth Less? campaign was accused last week of exploiting parents for political gain by sending a similar letter to two million families about Tory funding policies.

Anthony Glees, professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘Councilrun schools should not be seeking to influence voters during the purdah period.

‘It turns schools into political pressure groups – that’s not acceptable. Parents should make up their own minds on the education policies of parties standing for election. Why does this matter? Because it politicises schools.

‘Education, of course, has a political dimension, and a party political one. But schools themselves must be 100 per cent apolitical. Otherwise parents will fear their children are being indoctrinated.’

Jules White, headmaster of Tanbridge House School, a secondary in Horsham, West Sussex, and spokesman for Worth Less?, said: ‘We have no political affiliation.

‘Schools have faced significant real terms cuts in funding. Teachers and support staff have been laid off, our curriculum offer diminished and crucial services such as counselling is under threat. These facts were communi- cated to Downing St, MPs of all parties and most crucially to parents. The veracity of information provided has never been challenged; that’s because it is accurate.’

A spokesman for Margaret Roper Catholic Primary School said its letter ‘was not meant in any way to offer political bias’.

A spokesman for St Wilfrid’s Catholic School said the tweet had been sent in error by a staff member.

The Department for Education has said the core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said rising pupil numbers and inflation would lead to real-terms cuts.