[F]ollowing yesterday’s public meeting at Ullswater Community College, outlining the horrific scale of the cuts schools in Cumbria, and across the country, a protest march is being organised.
March For Fair Funding for Schools, will take place in Penrith on Saturday 6th May from 2pm. It will start at the Tourist Information Office and proceed to the Cornmarket where a number of local teachers and other people will speak.
Schools in Cumbria and across England are facing the biggest cuts in a generation. The government has broken its election promise to parents. The money following our children into school is going down by an average of £500 per pupil and this affects 99% of UK schools.
This will mean:
- increased class sizes
- loss of teaching and support staff
- fewer subject choices
- fewer resources and out of school activities
In addition, introducing a new school funding formula without the money to deliver it means that all schools are losing out. As parents we refuse to accept this. No one voted for cuts to our schools.
Doug Lawson said : “Only yesterday, Theresa May stated that the new funding formula was ‘more fair’, but the reality is that even those schools receiving greater funding from the formula will be worse off under the cuts. There is a £3bn hole in the budget for education, while the government puts £60bn into a brexit fund and a similar amount into Trident. Our children’s future is at stake; as we turn a new page in history, post-brexit, they deserve better than to be robbed of a decent education.”
Provisional details of the march are here.
Ullswater…….£632,678….17 teachers……minus £548 per pupil
QEGS………..£402,575….10 teachers……minus £636 per pupil
Alston
Samuel Kings….£36,459…..1 teacher……..minus £419 per pupil
William Howard…£740,943…20 teachers……minus £609 per pupil.
Appleby
Grammar School…£242,355…6 teachers…….minus £580 per pupil.
KS Grammar…….£234,597…6 teachers…….minus £743 per pupil.
