Staffordshire schools to lose more than £39 million in funding, union claims
Schools across Staffordshire are to set to lose more than £39 million in funding in the next three years with hundreds of teaching jobs at risk, a union has warned.
The figures have been revealed by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which says the government's new funding formula for schools will 'put the stability of the whole education system at risk'.
The union says the change in formula will mean schools in Staffordshire face losing around £386 of funding per pupil by 2020 or the equivalent of 1,055 teachers, based on an average teacher’s salary.
Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the NAHT, said: “The government expects schools to make £3 billion of savings by 2020. These reductions put the stability of the whole education system at risk, and we call on all political parties to commit to addressing this shortfall.
"To fund education fully and fairly, the next government must reverse the real terms cuts that schools are facing and provide enough money to make the new national funding formula a success.”
A second union, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), has also warned of the affects of these cuts in nearby Brownhills. The union claims seven schools in the area will lose between £421 and £728 of funding per pupil with up to 22 teaching jobs at risk in the next three years. This is despite the area seeing an increase in pupil numbers.
Russ Bragger, from the NUT, said: "The budget disaster facing Walsall schools and thousands of children has been growing for months."
Meetings were being held in both Cannock Chase and Brownhills yesterday to discuss the problems facing schools across the county and neighbouring regions.
The department for education has previously said its proposed new funding formula will end 'the historic unfairness that sees some areas of England funded disproportionately to others'.
It added there has been a 'substantial increase in school funding over the years'.
