Tories to continue to run schools into the ground

[noblegiraffe]

School funding was a massive issue in the 2017 election, and some say that it lost the Tories their majority. Not seen much about it on MN recently, so it seems to either have fallen off people’s radar or people have believed the Tories when they say the promised increase in funding will sort everything.

According to the latest analysis by the NEU union “Only 18 out of 533 parliamentary constituencies will not see per-pupil funding drop in real terms in 2020 compared with 2015”

Curiously, 13 out of these 18 lucky constituencies are Conservative areas.

If you don’t trust the union data, the Institute for Fiscal studies says “after inflation is taken into account, schools will only be getting an extra £4.3 billion per year in real terms by 2022-23.”
... while the funding is enough to almost reverse the real-terms cuts in schools budgets since 2009-10, there has still been a 13-year real-terms freeze on schools' budgets, which is “an unprecedented period without growth”.”

In addition, there have been announcements like raising NQT pay to £30k. While I’m sure this will be welcomed, if this increased pay sucks up all the extra funding, then we still won’t have any money for teaching assistants, textbooks and glue sticks. Schools also have to pay more national insurance and pension contributions than 2010, so a return to 2010 levels of funding will automatically mean doing more with less.

www.tes.com/news/4-out-5-constituencies-face-school-funding-cuts
www.tes.com/news/government-funding-vow-13-year-real-terms-freeze

I’d normally post this in Education but AIBU seems to be hosting the Jeremy Corbyn thread and I do really want people to know that the crisis in schools will not be fixed by the Conservatives, no matter what they’re claiming.

It’s far more complex than that Pigeon and you know it is.

That sort of comment reminds me of chuggers - don’t you care about the plight of tree monkeys?

It’s not that you don’t care, but that other things take priority.

People who plan to vote Tory in the election are voting for kids to sit shivering in schools I'm afraid

Back in March, this headteacher claimed she had to clean some of the school toilets herself and serve in the canteen because of school budget cuts - it was later revealed that she had been granted a £10,000 pay rise the previous year (not for cleaning!) and the school had received a 90% rise in its cleaning budget - £57,000 pa up from £30,000;

metro.co.uk/2019/03/20/headteacher-said-cuts-meant-clean-toilets-huge-budget-increase-8952394/

The school had recently completed a new building programme and was offering free breakfasts "in our new Windmill Café for all employees".

"We have invested in our buildings and have recently added two new builds that host our dedicated sixth form block, café area, science areas, new 240 seat theatre, music suite and recording studio and a brand new flood-lit multi-use games area (MUGA) and sports facilities."

www.tolworthgirlsschool.co.uk/Prospectus

What things take priority? What have the Tories done a good job on that you think ‘ok then, I’ll overlook their terrible record on the NHS, education, policing, the economy?

Genuinely struggling to think of any successes over the last 9 years.

Quite frankly this really shouldn’t be up to the government, if parents took responsibility for educating their own children it wouldn’t be such a massive burden on the tax payer. Means tested contributions are the way forwards so that those who can afford to pay don’t get a free ride and children of poor parents don’t suffer.

Depends what your beliefs are, doesn’t it?

Women’s rights, antisemitism, referendum (remain or leave) climate, all these factor in somebody’s vote, giraffe

I’m not sure who I’ll vote for. But when I do cast my vote, it won’t just be with education in mind. Yours will be, and that’s fine.

My son's school It is open four days a week but it offers low-cost wraparound care and all-day activities for the day it's closed.

Obviously not staffed by the class teachers - cheaper that way. How many children attend when the school is closed? We could copy France and give teachers one day off a week for planning/marking - Jess Philips might not be pleased though.

Women’s rights, antisemitism, referendum (remain or leave) climate, all these factor in somebody’s vote, giraffe

I’m sure they do, but like I said, I’m not sure what successes the Tories have had that would override them being a complete disaster area. If you can’t vote Labour because of antisemitism, then how on earth could you give your vote to the racist Boris Johnson? If you care about women’s rights, again....Boris Johnson.

I guess on Brexit if you’re desperate for no deal you could go there.

Velveteenfruitbowl Can you really not see that educating future tax payers benefits everyone?
Children are not a massive burden on the state

Obviously not staffed by the class teachers

No, should it be? Are teachers massively underworked and need to offer wraparound care too to up their hours?

I don't know how many kids attend Wednesday club across the country because a) it must vary massively regionally and b) not all schools offer a four-day week anyway.

The issue then is it becomes a ‘keep the Tories out’ giraffe which tbh is a weak argument - it should be ‘vote Labour in’ (or whoever) because of X.

I can think of huge fundamental flaws in all the parties and I don’t want to vote ‘for’ any of them, so it will come down to which one I think is least harmful.

Which do you think is least harmful Hollyivywillow?

It's impossible to tell isn't it?

All we have to go on is that since the Tories have been in schools and the NHS have deteriorated massively. I know this because I used to teach and now have children in schools. I've witnessed the collapse in schools and also in the NHS as my daughter and I unfortunately need to use that as well.

So this is how Macron is going to put more money into primary school education in France - by cutting public sector jobs in other departments;

May 2019 "French unions are holding strikes and protests against 120,000 job cuts and other deep changes to France’s huge public sector"

apnews.com/4f6f79e46e004b248e4ad922fc077655

Secondary schools included in the planned cuts as well;

"In 2019, 2,650 jobs in education are set to be scrapped including hundreds of teaching posts and administrative roles."

"The announcement was greeted with shock and anger by many"

"They presumed the president's landmark reform to cut primary class sizes in disadvantaged areas would mean more teachers, not less."

"Only secondary schools and colleges will be affected primary schools won't be touched by the cuts."

"Essentially the cuts are part of the government's plan to reduce the number of public service workers" ... "Earlier this month the PM Edouard Philippe announced there would be 4,500 posts cut in 2019 and another 10,000 in 2020."

"The fact the job cuts will only impact secondary schools and administrative posts also shows how Macron is favouring primary school education, were his reform to cut class size to 12 pupils in certain areas and certain year groups puts a strain on budgets."

"Education minister Blanquer says the budget for the Education Ministry will actually increase by €850 million next year and teachers will benefit."

"The government says class sizes [in secondary schools] will remain the same."

"However not everyone is buying it, with Valérie Sipahimalani, deputy secretary general of education union Snes-Fsu, saying the job cuts will increase the numbers per class."

"Because of the population increase, colleges expect an additional 32,000 students in September 2019 with some classes already made up of 30 students."

www.thelocal.fr/20180917/why-is-france-getting-rid-of-hundreds-of-teachers

Um, yes, he's reallocating resources to where they're most needed. Not sure what your point is? I'm not even a Macron fan, but at least he's trying to put money where it's most needed. If that means a few fewer German and Latin teachers in secondary schools, well, meh.

Not sure what your point is?
He is planning to cut 120,000 public sector jobs.

Yes I know, like I said I'm not a fan. In terms of education, I think he's right to focus on reducing class sizes in primary though.

Quite frankly this really shouldn’t be up to the government, if parents took responsibility for educating their own children it wouldn’t be such a massive burden on the tax payer. Means tested contributions are the way forwards so that those who can afford to pay don’t get a free ride and children of poor parents don’t suffer.

Quite frankly this kind of arrant stupidity is one of the best reasons I’ve seen for dramatically increasing education spending so this sort of thinking is eradicated. Investing in a well educated population is one the most basic responsibilities of government.

"Quite frankly this really shouldn’t be up to the government, if parents took responsibility for educating their own children it wouldn’t be such a massive burden on the tax payer. Means tested contributions are the way forwards so that those who can afford to pay don’t get a free ride and children of poor parents don’t suffer."

I wonder what would happen to the in between parents - or don't give a shit parents, who have enough means but don't value education? Would their kids just not go to school - if they never paid. Could you fine somebody for not paying? There are a lot of variables and questionables in this. How would they assess everyone and make sure no kids were falling through the gaps?

Are there places that already do this Velveteenfruitbowl?

Do you think this is the way Boris would take us?

Or the parents who, you know, have a job

Educating children is the responsiblity of our society as a whole, because an educated workforce is good for our society as a whole. I say that as a parent who has sent my kids private - and also as a longterm governor of their old (LEA-funded) primary school.

I have been weeping after updates from the head. We are failing children because we don't have enough money to educate them well - and that's at a school where we're all putting time (and our own cash) into the fundraising pot. At many others it is even worse.

What do you think will happen Panem? If this funding crisis in schools continues?

How does a school carry on when, like ours, it's over £200,000 in debt? Where does a school borrow that kind of money from and how do they continue to pay teachers?

At what point do schools collapse and close?

There are already schools only running 4.5 days a week because they can’t afford to open for the full 5.

Schools keep cutting back more and more. Experienced teachers are being managed out and replaced with cheap NQTs or worse, unqualified teachers. Art, music, tech provision is being cut.

Clav is a Tory so her posts about Macron are an attempt to divert attention elsewhere.

Dusty I don't know how schools carry on.

I presume the worst hit will get just-enough Tory funding, at the latest point possible, to stagger on, possibly though being first forced into a profit making group. Our Tory MP is keen on "technology and copying China" as a solution. Won't explain what they mean by that... I'm guessing classes of 60+, learning on tablets with mass redundancies of teaching staff, immediate expusion of pupils who even roll their eyes or sneeze...

The biggest long-term effect will be a less educated workforce than comparable nations, with a widened gap between opportunities and outcomes for the richest and poorest, and a generation of young people with severe mental health problems which were meant to be supported by their school and instead were exacerabted. The cost for the welfare state (if still in existence), the NHS (ditto), social care and courts/prisons will be huge. All rather than funding CAHMS, social services and schools properly now, for the sake of those in their formative years, who need a solid foundation for adulthood.

Before Brexit all kicked off it looked like they were considering Skype lessons - so schools who didn’t have qualified maths teachers would join a lesson from another school in their trust via Skype.

The thing about technology, especially Edtech, is that it is expensive and unreliable. Edtech companies will of course tell you otherwise.

DD1's secondary school is on 4.5 days a week.

DD 2's primary school has got rid of over 10 teachers/TAs in the last few months because they're £200,000 plus pounds in debt. It's now just teachers running the classes on their own and no supply staff allowed. All cover has to be provided by existing staff of which there is no surplus.

Everyone is just about coping at the moment. Or at least that's the way it seems to parents although there is also a high turnover of SLT and Heads at both schools which suggests there's a lot going on behind the scenes that we're not being told about.

Just wanted to correct this

No extra funding and many dc had additional needs eg un accompanied dc which authority legally had to take of

Unaccompanied children became looked after and supported by ring fenced child specific Pupil Premium Plus - they ARE given additional funding to support them

Stop blaming immigration for the impact of Tory cuts