Heads warn of a ‘funding crisis’

MORE than 7,000 head teachers have warned of a ‘school funding crisis’ in a joint letter sent to 3.5million families.

The heads are urging parents to lobby their MPs and the Government to increase funding as budgets are squeezed by rising costs.

The letter was sent home with pupils yesterday to families across 65 local authorities, in an escalation of the ongoing row between heads and the Government. It criticises Education Secretary Damian Hinds, claiming he has repeatedly declined to meet and listen to campaigners.

And it claims that, since 2010, school budgets have been reduced by 8 per cent on average, with cuts of 20 per cent in funding for sixthform and post-16 students.

The letter was masterminded by a group of Sussex heads who call themselves Worth Less? who formed before the last election. Its leader Jules White, head of Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex, said: ‘Heads want meaningful reassurance that the Department for Education understands the scale of our concerns and has a credible plan going forward. We fear that there is a “backs to the wall” state of denial from ministers, and a refusal to meet the very people who are dealing with the crisis on a dayto-day basis is untenable.’

The Department for Education said Mr Hinds had spoken to head teachers about the issue, but mainly deals with unions rather than separate campaign groups.

A DFE spokesman said: ‘ School funding in England is at its highest ever level, rising from almost £41bn in 2017-18 to £43.5bn by 2019-20.’

It comes after unions warned the squeeze on budgets would mean schools adopting shorter working weeks, with an early finish on Fridays. And 24 schools across the UK have already taken on the shorter timetable, with another 200 considering the same drastic move.

Many schools are also sending letters to parents begging for money, in one case specifying £1,000 per family per year. Others are cutting school subjects and making redundancies to make ends meet.