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TORIES were accused yesterday of breaking school funding election pledges with their mooted cut to payments per pupil.
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner told MPs during a Commons debate that there is no justification for the plans, currently in the consultation stage, that would affect at least 98 per cent of publicly funded schools.
Then Tory leader David Cameron vowed before the general election that school budgets in England would not be reduced.
But the proposed new national funding formula announced by Education Secretary Justine Greening in December increases money targeted at more than 10,000 schools with additional needs — but does not account for increasing numbers of pupils, resulting in less cash for each kid.
Ms Rayner said this was “robbing Peterborough to pay for Poole.”
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has warned that almost all schools face a real terms reduction, with an average loss of £339 per primary pupil and £477 per secondary student.
This is a total loss of £3 billion a year in real terms by 2020 for schools directly funded by the government, according to the National Audit Office.
Back-bench Tories have called for ministers to review the “unacceptable” reforms that could lead to more teachers losing their jobs.
Ms Rayner said that PM Theresa May’s professed vision for increased social mobility was already in tatters and that the government is “incapable” of running an education system.
She said before the debate: “It is clear the [Tories’] legacy will now be one of cutting school budgets, super-sized classes and no progress made in the international league tables. Our children deserve better.”
NUT general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “There is a gaping hole in the school budget and it is only set to increase through inflation and a rise in pupil numbers … There are no winners from the government’s education policy.”
The situation has even caused some of Ms May’s beloved grammar schools to consider asking parents for £40 a month to ensure teaching standards do not drop as a result of the changes planned to take effect from 2018-19, according to the Grammar School Heads Association.
