Our schools need more than money
It is not only cuts that are devastating and gutting our schools but privatisation and outsourcing.
The email below was sent to supporters of the School Cuts campaign.
Our hard work is paying off.
The new prime minister, Boris Johnson, claims he wants to address the school funding crisis. But so far his promises are vague.
Schools have had enough uncertainty. What we need now is a clear commitment.
£12.6bn more per year is exactly how much our schools and colleges need to reverse the cuts and maintain per pupil funding levels as costs rise.
We’ve done the maths. Now the prime minister needs to take action. Sign our open letter now to send a clear message that we won’t accept anything less.
Schools can’t afford any more empty promises or short-term fixes. They need a proper funding solution that lasts – supporting every child from early years to college.
That solution is £12.6bn more each year, by 2022/23.
Now the prime minister must commit sufficient money, in enough time, to end the school funding crisis.
Sign our open letter to hold the prime minister to account over this figure, so schools get what they actually need.
Through relentless campaigning, together we have put schools at the top of the political agenda. We should be proud.
From here, we must press on as hard as we can until the money is in our schools.
Kevin Courtney
Joint General Secretary, National Education Union
__________
The following email was sent by a party member in response to the text above.
Thanks for all the work you do highlighting the problems with cuts to our schools and nurseries. It is very much appreciated.
I just wanted to make a point that perhaps gets overlooked in the demand for more funding, which is, of course, desperately needed. If we don’t demand the reversal of all privatisation, outsourcing, academisation etc at the same time, the demand for more money can actually be fulfilled, but in a way that benefits the profiteers and does nothing to fix the crisis in our classrooms.
We’ve seen the same problem in the health service. Governments keep giving money but services get worse – in effect, the public is paying for private companies to make profits rather than for more staff and improved services.
Our demand can’t just be ‘more money’. It has to be for a renationalised, publicly accountable education system where the syllabus and spending is child and education-focused rather than aimed at creating profits for private companies.
JB, Bristol
