White disadvantaged pupils failed for decades - a national scandal

[noblegiraffe]

A group of MPs have produced a report detailing how white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds have been neglected for decades leading to poorer educational outcomes than almost any other ethnic group.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57558746

Given that the Tories have been in power for a decade, have they accepted their part in this? Well they seem to have gone with deciding that the phrase ‘White privilege’ is the real issue here.

Yes, white working class pupils have been neglected, but the implication is that is because other groups have been prioritised.

This is a government who:

1. have systematically underfunded education since they got in
2. have cut Pupil premium funding
3. are the sort to express horror at state school kids getting prioritised for Oxbridge places
4. have done fuck all for any other underachieving groups

And they’re only now concerned about white working class kids because

1. they think it might play well to the red wall
2. they can use it to score points in a tedious fucking culture war

Will we see any more money for schools (particularly early years) as a result? I doubt it.

I think they want to divert funding from S to N and are creating the narrative that allows that. So I'd expect schools in London and Birmingham to lose funding, but it to be justified as the higher % BAME children don't need it.

They probably are fingers crossed that the Tory heartlands don't really care which working class areas get the pitifulfunding increase and won't punish them for abandoning inner city schools.

Yup

www.tes.com/news/pay-teachers-ps10k-top-work-weaker-schools-disadvantage

Can't help but feel Quentin's on the money here.

You might be right quentin.
I'm no expert on regional school funding differences, but it frustrates me to read about how great outcomes are in London when London schools (to the best of my knowledge) have had all manner of initiatives and money thrown at them for years, meanwhile there's lots of schools in the Midlands and North who are struggling.

Results of the last time the Conservatives fed a 'North versus South, London is over-funded' culture war and 're-organised' funding in response:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/boris-johnson-school-funding-cuts-national-education-union-constituencies-general-election-a9195621.html%3famp

Though I think Quentin is right about his this particular narrative will go.

As Piggy's link suggests.

Honestly, it's all scraps, Lola. Believe me, London schools aren't gambolling in money.

London pupils don't come in wearing gold shoes.

All across the education sector we're being asked to deal with more whilst we have less.

In education, everything comes through our doors: benefit cuts to families - we deal with it; cuts to MH services - we deal with it; cuts to youth services - we deal with it.

We, in education, do that. Together.

And we stand together, refusing to take part in a fight with each other, over scraps, because unless we stand together, we are hopelessly weakened in our resistance.

I don't think London schools are rolling in it, but I do think as with many things London has been a priority for central government when other regions are forgotten.

The government will fund whatever they think will get them the votes, and none of it involves caring about schools or children.

Hmm so a teacher who worked at an outstanding school for a year and was at mps4 would be classified as an outstanding teacher. Hm'ok.

They might get a shock with this and realise that good schools actually often harbour a lot of shit teachers who knew they were onto a good thing and never left for fear of not being able to cope in a more challenging school with a broader demographic.

Funnily enough a lot of 'outstanding teachers' work in really challenging schools with very difficult intakes.

Kids in London also benefit from a whole lot of local universities allowing them to stay at home and access free/highly subsidised quality public transport making uni a hell of a lot cheaper and accessible than it is for kids living out of London in areas with expensive, irregular public transport and one piss poor yet charging 9k a year anyway university 20 miles away.

Apples and pears really.

I'm going to hazard a generalisation from my limited knowledge that London also has a lot more social housing, built in central areas with great public transport links on the doorstep.

TheHoneyBadger
I was thinking the same.
I've worked in outstanding schools and in more challenging schools. In all outstanding schools there's been some colleagues who would be given nice middle set classes and no challenging students. They weren't strong enough to get the top grades needed from high sets, weren't effective enough to work with the lower sets, and in an affluent area the parents will pay for private tutoring in Year 11 anyway. They'll never move to another school because they're too comfy and couldn't hack it in a more challenging school.

*The culture war is a form of lying about what doesn't exist to render what does exist invisible.

It's obscene.*

THIS X 1,000,000