The Government needs to find more funding for all schools, with
many already being forced to make cuts to balance their budgets,
says Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of
Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) as the union submits its response to
the Department of Education’s (DfE) schools national funding
formula consultation.
Dr Bousted said: “Despite the Government’s claims to the
contrary, our schools are facing a funding crisis. There is
simply not enough money to go around. The challenges facing our
schools are stark. As the National Audit Office and many others
have confirmed, our schools will have to make a staggering £3
billion in savings a year in real-terms by 2020 due to the
significant cost pressures they face.
“As a result, funding will be cut for every child in 98 per cent
of schools in England (1), and schools with the most deprived
children will lose funding. These cuts will lead to increased
class sizes, fewer teachers and support staff, less support for
vulnerable children, especially those with SEND, and in some
cases schools will close.
“Sufficiently funded, the Schools National Funding Formula has
the potential to target money where it is most needed as well as
addressing historic discrepancies. ATL strongly opposes any
calls, including from the f40 (2), to tweak the formula to reduce
the amount of funding to address the social injustice of
deprivation, which we know blights the educational success of too
many children. The formula in its current form has the potential
to begin reversing educational disadvantage and ATL fully
supports the enhanced weight given to deprivation.
“To make this formula a success the Department for Education must
urgently secure more funding from the Treasury. Failure to do so
will deny a generation of children the quality education they are
entitled to and parents rightly expect.”
ENDS
Note to editors:
(1) The 98% figure comes from the joint unions (ATL, GMB, NAHT,
NUT, UNISON and Unite) www.schoolcuts.org.ukwebsite
using the Department for Education figures from its National
Funding Formula together with the National Audit Office’s
inflation forecast.
(2) f40 is the group of lowest funded education authorities in
England.
