Government vanity projects, huge reserves in some schools, and unprotected and squeezed core funding means teachers’ pay continues to suffer, says Chris Keates

The government likes to claim it has protected the core schools budget in England, and continues to do so.

Indeed just a few months ago the schools minister said the government was spending more today on schools than in history. At the same time there are claims that schools will have to lose thousands of teachers because of savage spending cuts.

Some schools have responded to claims of a funding crisis by issuing begging letters to parents asking them to pay hundreds of pounds each year by way of so-called “voluntary contributions” to pay for essentials.

As research by the NASUWT has shown, the cost of education for parents and families has risen year-on-year since 2010, meaning that in many parts of the country we have a system based on selection by wealth and parents’ ability pay.

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