Thursday 9th February saw Cumbria NAHT building momentum in efforts to raise awareness of the school funding crisis, with support from Tim Farron MP.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Londsdale said “It is all down to the government
deciding to spend money, or I would argue waste money in other areas such as a grammar school programme. They have taken £1.5 billion out of the pension pot which means that schools have got to make up the difference. What the NAHT has done this week is reveal what it actually means for schools. What it actually means for schools in Cumbria is 625 fewer teachers in just 3 years time.”
Graham Frost, NAHT Cumbria Branch Secretary said “We are having to pay for more things out of the per pupil allocations, and having to fill the gaps in services to schools arising from the £600 million reduction in the Education Maintenance Grant. As a result, schools are already feeling the pinch.”
There were two meetings held in Cumbria to brief school leaders and governors on the funding crisis facing the school system and how this will affect Cumbria’s schools. Rob Kelsall, NAHT Senior Regional Officer told the well attended meetings that:
- by 2020 our education system will be short by £3bn;
- 72% of school leaders nationally say that their budgets will be unsustainable by 2019 unless additional funding is allocated to schools;
- according to National Audit Office figures, the real term budget change by 2019 for Cumbria’s school budget will be -£23,281,804, -£383 per pupil and 625 fewer teachers;
- if £ millions for legal proceedings for universal academisation can be found, why can same or more not be invested in the classroom?
- to avoid deficit budgets, schools are already reducing spending on staff training and equipment and are not replacing staff when they leave.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, who earlier in the week tabled an Early Day Motion on school funding, attended the meeting in Grange over Sands, applauding NAHT’s well reasoned analysis of National Audit Office Figures on school funding. He said “A properly funded education system is an absolute essential at a time of economic challenge. School leaders are one of the most trusted professions – people will listen to you!”
Attendees at both the Penrith and Grange over Sands meetings were of one mind. School
leaders are resourceful, do an excellent job of making the best of a difficult situation and go out of their way to mitigate the effect on pupils of the real term cuts, including the cuts to other services such as health and social care. However, not only is this threatening the wellbeing of school workforces, the scale of the funding crisis is so stark that, without urgent additional funding to schools, in no time at all the crisis will be acutely felt across the country by pupils and their parents.
Rob Kelsall summed up the frustration felt by school leaders and governors: “Spending on education should be seen as an investment in our children’s futures, not a burden on the treasury.”
NAHT Cumbria 