"All Schools are special" says Lib Dem Education Spokesperson
"All schools are special" says Lib Dem Education Spokesperson

Liberal Democrat Education Spokes at Bath & North East Somerset has 
expressed her dismay in response to the Government's long-awaited White 
Paper on Education:

"Every school is special, every school deserves proper funding, proper 
staff. This Government White Paper misses the opportunity to put forward 
plans that will really make a difference for children in B&NES."

The new White Paper suggests that 1 in 4 schools should have special 
status. This means £100,000 start up grant, and up to £123,000 per year 
for a "Special Status" school. "But what about the other 60% of schools?" 
asks Cllr Melling "Must the poor get poorer under a Labour Government?

"Indeed, how are schools meant to find the time and the resources to put 
together time-consuming bids for Specialist Status funding when there 
aren't enough staff to teach the curriculum? In our manifesto for the 
General Election Liberal Democrats put the highest priority on training 
and recruiting quality teachers, and that remains our number one priority. 

"In B&NES we continue suffer from chronic Government under-funding: 
Funding for schools is determined through the Government's Standard 
Spending Assessment, and this is riddled with inequalities. For example, a 
secondary school child in B&NES is centrally funded at £2,926 per year, 
and in neighbouring Bristol, at £3,292. In fact there are so many Local 
Authorities who do not receive proper funding from the Government to run 
their schools, that a pressure group of MP's, F40, has repeatedly 
challenged the Education Minister to introduce a fairer system."

Ends


For further information contact Cllr Melling 01225 332153