Educating Essex headteacher Vic Goddard has attacked the government for forcing headteachers to make funding cuts that will compromise the education and safety of pupils.
The head of Passmores Academy, in Harlow, has made a video in which he talks about the effect that budget cuts are having on his school.
‘Biggest concern’
“The biggest concern for me is that we cannot have young people not with highly qualified and talented people standing in front of them,” he said.
“You know, text books and everything else that we rely on as teachers - they’re find. But the biggest thing, the most influential thing in front of young people are qualified staff. Good teachers.
“And, if we can’t have good teachers in front of young people - if I can’t afford good teachers in front of young people - then I’m not serving the children that we have.”
In December, the National Audit Office said that the government’s proposed school funding formula will mean that schools have to make cuts equivalent to 8 per cent in real termsbetween 2014-15 and 2019-20.
Mr Goddard says that his school will lose 2.9 per cent of its budget this year: equivalent to £189,000.
‘Austerity is a choice’
He and his fellow Essex headteachers are writing to their local MPs, highlighting the situation for schools. The governors of 40 schools in West Sussex have already done the same.
“Austerity is a choice,” Mr Goddard said. “This government is choosing where to spend money, where not to spend money. They’re not giving enough money to education.
“There comes a point where you can’t keep cutting things away, without things falling over. And we’re not very far away from that.”
